AlQa'dah 29, 1432, Oct 27, 2011, SPA -- Cases of hand, foot and mouth disease have jumped in Vietnam, infecting nearly 78,000 people and killing 137 since January, dpa quoted authorities as saying Thursday. Last year, 11,000 cases and six deaths were reported, the Ministry of Health's Department of Preventive Medicine said. The past week saw 5,200 new cases and 11 deaths, it said. Nguyen Tan Duc, deputy director of the Department of Health in the central province of Quang Ngai, said the rate of infections in his province was 45 times higher than the same period last year. The rise has occurred as a more dangerous strain of the virus has become more prevalent. This year has seen the highest year-on-year increase in infections, local media quoted the department's director, Nguyen Van Binh, as saying. Binh said the disease was likely to cause more casualties from October to December, a peak infection period. "There are cases of the disease in the country, but it is still under control," Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said. The virus is transmitted through saliva, blister fluid and faeces, but it is rare among adults, whose immune systems are generally strong enough to fight it off. The disease is life-threatening in a small number of cases, owing to complications such as lung haemorrhages and meningitis. There are no vaccines to prevent the disease, the department said. Southern Vietnam has been hardest hit. The region accounts for 67.8 per cent of infections and 89.2 per cent of the deaths, the department said.
