The number of cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in KwaZulu-Natal has risen to 117, according to the provincial health department.
The cases have been found in 10 primary schools, as well as in daycare centres. The ages of the children with the disease are between 3 and 13 years.
The director of communicable disease control at the provincial health department, Babongile Mhlongo, has urged educators and parents to ensure that learners are frequently sanitised and that children with symptoms do not attend school.
“We need to regularly clean the surfaces and other items such as toys. So, I think we’re going back to what we used to do during COVID-19 where we’re saying people need to wash their hands and they need to make sure that surfaces are clean regularly and children should avoid contact with people who are already infected. Hence, we’re saying for those kids that are still presenting with symptoms, we are really encouraging that they are kept at home.”
‘Flu-like symptoms’
Mhlongo says it may be advisable for parents to take their child to a clinic or doctor as soon as they complain of flu-like symptoms.
“The current hand-foot-and-mouth disease that we’re seeing in Durban is not the same as the foot-and-mouth that normally affects animals. It’s not a zoonotic condition. The one that we have, meaning that it cannot be transferred from the animals or transmitted from the animals to the human beings. So, if you have cows don’t be worried and try to isolate those cows because they will transmit the disease. It’s totally different disease.”