Deadly Hand Foot and Mouth Disease in China

So if anybody's been getting Pro-Med reports lately I'm sure they've been hearing lots about the outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease that's hitting China REALLY badly right now. The disease is caused by enterovirus 71, and like it's near cousin polio can have paralytic symptoms apart from the namesake rash. Although the mortality rate is not strikingly high, 23 children have already died from the disease, testimony to the enormous numbers of children that are being infected. In the hardest hit city of Fuyang, 3736 children have come down with the disease, and it shows no signs of slowing down. 415 reported cases arose in the last 24 hours alone. And that's only the cases that are getting reported. Worse, reports indicate that the virus may be spreading to other provinces, as a case was discovered in Guangdong Province yesterday. Serious stuff, it's growing like a wildfire.

Jon