China virus outbreak kills third child
Pastor Dale Morgan
China virus outbreak kills third child*
Reuters
Thursday, May 24, 2007; 9:42 AM
BEIJING (Reuters) - A viral disease that has broken out in eastern
China's Shandong province has killed a third child, Xinhua said on
Thursday, raising doubts over earlier claims that the epidemic may have
been contained.
The news agency said that an 11-month-old boy had developed a fever and
blisters before dying on Tuesday in a hospital in Linyi city, where
1,263 cases of "hand, foot, and mouth disease" have been reported since
April.
The virus, which typically causes painful blisters around the mouth and
throat and hands and feet, had already claimed the lives of a
14-month-old boy earlier this month and a two-year-old girl on April 29.
Xinhua cited the provincial health bureau as saying that the outbreak of
the virus, which is highly contagious among children but not normally
fatal, was "slowing down." The government earlier said it had been
contained.
The local government has launched a campaign to remind parents to take
preventive measures such as frequent handwashing.
Chinese bloggers in Shandong said in early May that 26 children had died
in the outbreak. Local media said authorities in Linyi had denied that
figure.