Deadly virus threatens China's children

[axollot]

Source: The Independent - UK

Chinese health authorities are grappling with a virus that has killed 28 children and is set to claim more lives, with reports of a preliminary cover-up of the highly contagious disease echoing the Sars epidemic of 2003.


The disease is hand, foot and mouth, a relatively common childhood illness, but what is unusual is that the current outbreak is at its worst when caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71). There is no vaccine or antiviral agent available to treat or prevent EV71, which is spread mostly through contact with infected blisters or faeces and can cause high fever, paralysis and swelling of the brain. It is unrelated to foot-and-mouth disease, which affects cattle, sheep and swine.

The illness is particularly virulent among the under-fives: a two-year-old girl in the central province of Hunan and a three-year-old boy in the south-western region of Guangxi became the latest to die from infection by the EV71 virus, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Disease-control specialists have called on local health authorities to step up public education about the illness and to gear up for more cases. "There is no indication of a change or a more virulent virus," Hans Troedsson, the World Health Organisation's China representative, told a news conference held with the Chinese Health Ministry yesterday.

Cases of hand, foot and mouth first emerged in large numbers in eastern China in early March, but were not made public until last week, prompting state press to accuse local officials of being too slow in reporting the outbreak. Prominent medical professionals insisted that the outbreak was not a repeat of the Sars virus, whose reporting Chinese authorities muzzled in 2003, leading to the sacking of the health minister and Beijing's mayor.



Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/deadly-virus-threatens-chinas-children-822838.html

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This can get really bad really fast! =(

Cheers
Sandy

[notadmblnd]

1. there goes their future cheap labor pool

this is really sad and I feel for the children, but honestly.. that's the first thing I thought of.

[axollot]

2. WOW, first thing I thought of......

since it's a mutated form of 'foot/mouth' disease is how BAD can this get and how long before it turns up in the US, Europe or Australia.

Cheers
Sandy

[Joanne98]

3. How many rich people are taking their children to opening ceremonies?

This should be interesting.

[axollot]

6. Probably many of them - but, it seems to be still only....

effecting the poor children/areas - whom, I do not expect to be in the Olympic audience. However, it will not take long for a strain like this to pass quickly to people from all incomes.

Cheers
Sandy

[Virginia Dare]

4. Viruses always start in Southeast Asia..

this thing will be moving west...:scared:

[axollot]

5. Exactly what I was thinking...it will move west.....n/t

edit to clarify.

[jjr5]

7. I cannot believe that you said that viruses ALWAYS

start in Southeast Asia. That is biologically impossible. For goodness sake, with the controversy over the AIDS epidemic, for example, you should be careful of where you say diseases or viruses start.

btw, this really is terrible. Not because of "how it might affect us . .. :scared:" :eyes: , but because of the little kids that it is already affecting.

Sometimes I feel like people on this site need to get out more. Not everything has to do with American politics and your national well-being. Somethings are just sad, some things are just human tragedies.

[axollot]

8. To be clear, I was *not* agreeing with the

all viruses start in Asia, because I know that is rubbish. What I was agreeing on, is that it will move west AND yes THAT SCARES ME!

The whole reason I posted this was to bring awareness to a mutated virus strain that is effecting CHILDREN (doesn't matter if they are Asian or not - they are kids).

Cheers
Sandy

[Mojorabbit]

9. Perhaps the poster was

remembering this article which states that all flu viruses start in Asia. It was in all the papers recently.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.flu17apr17,0,6675426.story

[Virginia Dare]

11. Yes, but it's easier to judge..

me as being ignorant and self-centered....thanks for the clarification.

[Mojorabbit]

10. Now it has spread to Vietnam

Vietnam raises alert on EV71 virus after 10 children die

A boy suspected of being infected with the deadly enterovirus 71 (EV71)
Vietnam’s prime minister has urged health authorities to fight a hand, foot and mouth disease outbreak caused by the EV71 virus which officials said Wednesday had killed at least 10 children in the country this year.

The intestinal virus, which hits children hardest, has infected around 400 children this year, mainly in southern Vietnam, said Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department.

“The virus killed at least 10 children in the first four months,” he told AFP, adding that no precise data was available because the enterovirus is not a reportable disease in the country.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged health officials nationwide to take urgent measures to fight the disease, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said.

The virus, which begins with fever, blisters, mouth ulcers and rashes, is highly contagious and spreads through direct contact with the mucus, saliva or feces of an infected person.

It has killed at least 28 children in neighboring China and infected thousands more, raising fears it could spread across the region.

“The virus is very contagious,” Nga said.
http://www.thanhniennews.com/healthy/?catid=8&newsid=38359

[axollot]

16. Exactly why I freaked out about it coming westward......

I sometimes feel as though we will take care of the global warming issue by infectious disease, population reduction and it scares the crap out of me......

Cheers
Sandy

[Mojorabbit]

17. Well

it is in Singapore too. Indonesia is on the alert.

[axollot]

19. My son, who is 18

is looking to go back home to Australia, not sure *traveling* at this time is a good thing. The outlook is scary from many directions and the one plan we have as a family is to all move to my mothers 40 acres - it would give each family PLENTY of acres each - even with 3 or 4th generation families to do our best to grow as much food to help ourselves and anyone else that ever needs it.

I hope it never gets to that and do as much as *I* can (neighbors and I are working together as well - our worms just arrived!) to take action. Physically, I couldn't be a nurse (started school for it recently) that go into these areas to attempt to prevent the spread, like assisting Doctors Without Border's, my disablility sadly limits me. But, I am able to help locally.

Cheers
Sandy -who
fears infectious diseases - cause, I've had a funky one once......some Chinese virus over 10 years ago....

[1776Forever]

12. This is very bad news - Also where the world should come together to fight it!

The Chinese have a billion people and that must be something that they will really need to keep an eye on! We could see this go much further then the bird flu looks like from it moving to Vietnam now.

Thanks for posting the article.

Let's hope for the best!

[formercia]

13. Give your infant toys made by hand with Chinese labor

and hope they're not infected.

[David__77]

14. This has nothing to do with China's manufacturing sector.

Where's the empathy for human tragedy?

[formercia]

18. Yes it does.

Adults can carry the virus as well. Infected workers can contaminate products destined for export.

[OKthatsIT]

15. Maybe David Rockefeller should get nervous..right about NOW.

Journalist, Benjamin Fulford says these designer viruses(which are race specific) have 'signatures' from black ops labs. Specifically, David Rockefeller funded labs. Maybe you didn't know about that. SARS was a race specific virus...it targeted Asian DNA. Ever see the faces of the people who got SARS in Canada?

...but the sheep just bahhhhhhhhh.