Top Bangkok Primary School Closes Due To Hand, Foot And Mouth Disease: Chulalongkorn University

[LucidLucifer]

Have you not seen the death count?

There are probably more people killed by this over the past few weeks than SARS ever managed.

Yes, there have been a number of deaths in Cambodia.

You are scaremongering though.

Edited July 17, 2012 by LucidLucifer

[eladblum]

I can't believe - well, I guess I can, actually - that the nation posted a photo of buffalo when talking about human HFM diease

The Nation and a bunch of incredibly intelligent posters here. They might be infected with the Foot and mouth disease.

[Moruya]

Have you not seen the death count?

There are probably more people killed by this over the past few weeks than SARS ever managed.

Yes, there have been a number of deaths in Cambodia.

You are scaremongering though.

around 120 deaths between China and Cambodia.

You got kids?

[moskito]

If it's in downtown bangkok, then it has to be pretty much nationwide

May it it would help educating the parents first... As long as I live here and thats a couple of years, I never saw someone

using SOAP when washing hands....IF they wash hands anyway... When it comes to hygiene, Thailand is for sure a

3rd World country.... it doesnt help to take only a shower morning and evening if one avoiding water all day long...

[Thai at Heart]

If it's in downtown bangkok, then it has to be pretty much nationwide

Why is that?

Are you sure you're not mixing it with Foot and Mouth disease?

The kids got Hand, foot and mouth disease. It is not the same.

I think u are splitting hairs.

Human foot and mouth disease also presents it on the hands. human foot and mouth, is the same add human foot, mouth and hand, or id that different from, mouth, foot and hand, or mouth, foot and hand disease?

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is often confused with foot-and-mouth disease (also called hoof-and-mouth disease), a disease of cattle, sheep, and swine. However, the two diseases are caused by different viruses and are not related. Humans do not get the animal disease, and animals do not get the human disease.

And what had that got to do with the chance that human foot and mouth is now nationwide. Where exactly would kids in downtown bangkok have caught it?

Romping in the faeces infested paddy fields?

[metisdead]

Off topic and nonsense posts have been removed.

[Thai at Heart]

If it's in downtown bangkok, then it has to be pretty much nationwide

May it it would help educating the parents first... As long as I live here and thats a couple of years, I never saw someone

using SOAP when washing hands....IF they wash hands anyway... When it comes to hygiene, Thailand is for sure a

3rd World country.... it doesnt help to take only a shower morning and evening if one avoiding water all day long...

If u notice, many Thai men wash their hands before taking a leak. Obviously handing something that valuable takes great care.

[Wombat6]

If it's in downtown bangkok, then it has to be pretty much nationwide

May it it would help educating the parents first... As long as I live here and thats a couple of years, I never saw someone

using SOAP when washing hands....IF they wash hands anyway... When it comes to hygiene, Thailand is for sure a

3rd World country.... it doesnt help to take only a shower morning and evening if one avoiding water all day long...

If u notice, many Thai men wash their hands before taking a leak. Obviously handing something that valuable takes great care.

You don't see too many Thai women washing their hands after picking their nose which appears to me to be a national pastime

[Moruya]

If it's in downtown bangkok, then it has to be pretty much nationwide

May it it would help educating the parents first... As long as I live here and thats a couple of years, I never saw someone

using SOAP when washing hands....IF they wash hands anyway... When it comes to hygiene, Thailand is for sure a

3rd World country.... it doesnt help to take only a shower morning and evening if one avoiding water all day long...

If u notice, many Thai men wash their hands before taking a leak. Obviously handing something that valuable takes great care.

Maybe they have been handling chillis

[drdoom6996]

The incompetence of the Thai authorities is unrivaled in the world. Yesterday they told that Thailand had no problems whatsoever and that everything was under control. That wile 76 children had died in Phnom Pen alone and 64 in China. Everybody with half a brain knows that this is the top of the iceberg as doctors do not know how to identify EV71. in a matter of fact the WHO thinks that the children die mainly due to the use of steroids while local doctors deny this. Along the border with Cambodia there must be literally hundreds of cases like this.

the wait is for a political party like the Democrat Party to start pointing fingers to the government and accuse them of negligence, a bit like with the flooding. It is the governments fault that it is raining and also that the Bangkok government closed all the klongs and made roads out of them.

The real trouble is the establishment. Departments are in the hands of elitist who are there to stay. They are not used to be scrutinized and they are always in denial.

But the government is so much more busy with other things than Thai Children.

[webfact]

UPDATE

17 schools in Bangkok closed due to hand, foot and mouth disease

BANGKOK, 17 July 2012 (NNT) – Seventeen schools in Bangkok have been closed after hand, foot and mouth infections were found among the students. However, the viruses detected in the schools are different from the stronger type now spreading in Cambodia.

Deputy Bangkok Governor MD Malinee Sukhavejworakit said on Tuesday that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had ordered 17 schools to close for seven days due to hand, foot and mouth infections among students of different classrooms and different grades.

The administration had sent a team of officials to disinfect Chulalongkorn University Demonstration Secondary School, one of the 17 schools, MD Malinee said. Some classrooms of 11 more schools in the capital city have also been closed.

In Thailand, the current spread has taken place for two months now. Statistics show that the infection rate of hand, foot and mouth disease this year is higher than the past five years. Since January, 2,400 people have been infected, with 860 cases in June alone.

The hand, foot and mouth viruses found in Bangkok are in the Coxsackie group, which is less severe than the type found in Cambodia. During the past five years, no fatalities from the disease have been reported.

-- NNT 2012-07-17

[moskito]

If it's in downtown bangkok, then it has to be pretty much nationwide

May it it would help educating the parents first... As long as I live here and thats a couple of years, I never saw someone

using SOAP when washing hands....IF they wash hands anyway... When it comes to hygiene, Thailand is for sure a

3rd World country.... it doesnt help to take only a shower morning and evening if one avoiding water all day long...

If u notice, many Thai men wash their hands before taking a leak. Obviously handing something that valuable takes great care.

so do I before and after... I am a little bit overclean when it comes to washineg my hands...even after I touched money I wash my hands and for sure when I come home or before I eat....and mostly I am using soap. What I meant was, how we can expect the kids to do it, if their parents never do....and I dont think shools give a rats ass on educating hygiene...or throwing things like plastic everywhere....or using a helmet....or dont fight kids from other shools...or or or or.......

[Unkomoncents]

Well then, we can probably safely assume that every primary school in Bangkok has a case or two at least. The real question when these articles come to press is how many schools are trying to cover up the cases in the their midst. When the H1N1 virus was running rampant, the school I worked at made a point of telling all the teachers that they weren't "allowed" to discuss the illness during school hours. Thailand: when everything's fine, you can be sure that the sh*t is only 70% hitting the fan. Now that Chula has admitted this, it's time for the rest of the country to insert its head back up its a*s. Mai pen rai, sabai, sabai.

[Lingba]

The incompetence of the Thai authorities is unrivaled in the world. Yesterday they told that Thailand had no problems whatsoever and that everything was under control. That wile 76 children had died in Phnom Pen alone and 64 in China. Everybody with half a brain knows that this is the top of the iceberg as doctors do not know how to identify EV71. in a matter of fact the WHO thinks that the children die mainly due to the use of steroids while local doctors deny this. Along the border with Cambodia there must be literally hundreds of cases like this.

the wait is for a political party like the Democrat Party to start pointing fingers to the government and accuse them of negligence, a bit like with the flooding. It is the governments fault that it is raining and also that the Bangkok government closed all the klongs and made roads out of them.

The real trouble is the establishment. Departments are in the hands of elitist who are there to stay. They are not used to be scrutinized and they are always in denial.

Absolutely agree...there's that old saying..."you point a finger, and you end up pointing three at yourself".............People here are so quick to hide behind problems or blaming everyone under the sun, rather than facing it head on and tackling it...GEEEZ!!..talk about lack of responsibility

[attento]

H F & M diseases is not a serious problem in healthy children. However, it is moderately contageous. It is caused by an intestinal Virus, with symptoms of fever, headaches and/or body rash. Any remedial action is to treat the symptoms. It usually passes in a matter of days. Children are treated as for any feverous condition, with drinking plenty of fluids, and with soothing creams to reduce itching. There is some logic in closing schools for a few days until the peak of the outbreak has passed. Hardly a Newsworthy event, and surely of no National significance.

Will TVF correspondents lay the blame for this outbreak on one or other political faction, or the Army, or farangs, or Cambodians, or Russians, or ....... ?

[LucidLucifer]

Have you not seen the death count?

There are probably more people killed by this over the past few weeks than SARS ever managed.

Yes, there have been a number of deaths in Cambodia.

You are scaremongering though.

around 120 deaths between China and Cambodia.

You got kids?

Yes I have a daughter thanks.

I am not dismissing this, far from it, but it isn't quite at the stage to press the panic button yet (and it's certainly not the doomsday scenario a couple of other posters have nonsensically mentioned).

The hand, foot and mouth viruses found in Bangkok are in the Coxsackie group, which is less severe than the type found in Cambodia. During the past five years, no fatalities from the disease have been reported.

-- NNT 2012-07-17

[smileplur]

This news is particularly alarming for me. Being from the United States, we don't have many outbreaks of this disease. Prior to this event, I admit to having very little knowledge about it at all. It has been confirmed that there is at least one case of it at my school. There hasn't been any talk of closure yet, but you never know when a school like Chula does something like this. Others may very well follow.

What alarms me most about it are a few things:

1) The sanitary conditions where I work -- The toilet closest to my desk never has soap. I am told this is because a student drank a large amount of it once, so they removed the liquid soap dispenser. The toilet is cleaned often, but the knobs and handles frequently touched are not. Students don't often wash their hands when they finish their business. Without soap, running water over hands isn't very hygienic as far as I can tell. I mean we all touch the same things to flush the toilet or turn the water on and off.

Also, there is one plastic cup at the water dispensing machine. This plastic cup can be used by anyone. I fill up my own water bottle, but students and Thai teachers don't always do the same. Otherwise, students can use the shared plastic cup that belongs to their classroom. I would hope this is cleaned a few times a day, but I highly doubt it. I've never seen anyone washing one. I watched 20 kids line up at a different water machine and use the same cup after a PE class today. Furthermore, the cup invariably touches the nozzle where the water is dispensed. This means that transmission can also occur when using another personal water bottle, cup, or whatever.

2) I am no doctor, but what are the ramifications of using a 'bum gun' that's been used by an infected person? It seems to me that this is another possible way for the virus to spread rather easily. It's a recipe for disaster,

I'm fairly certain that my place of employment isn't going to close, but you never know. We've already faced a lot of disruptions. While a week off would be lovely, I'd prefer the time in the classroom to catch up to where we should be at this point in the school year. The ramifications of this disease are seemingly nil for a healthy adult, but I would hate to see a bunch of students fall very ill. I'm not so sure which strain this is, as I have learned to be skeptical of media downplay of such things. This is especially true considering the recent outbreak in Cambodia. I'm not expecting a whole lot of truth to be disseminated regarding the extent of this outbreak.

3) As has already been stated, misdiagnosis by doctors appears to be very problematic. Antibiotics seem to be prescribed for every ailment. I've had doctors try to give them to me for a severe headache! These drugs can cause complications with this disease.

Well, we will just have to wait and see how this one plays out!

[Gers1873]

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common, mild illness caused by a type of virus called an enterovirus..

But it is absolutely horrible if you happen to be one of the affected kids or a parent. Watching them cry through the pain is terrible.

Generally, hand, foot and mouth disease is a mild and short-lasting illness. Treatment is usually not needed as the body's immune system clears the virus and symptoms go away after about 7 to 10 days.

Thankfully and contrary to the mass hysteria most kids emerge with no long term effects and no worse the wear.

[Gers1873]

This news is particularly alarming for me. Being from the United States, we don't have many outbreaks of this disease.

Absolute balderdash. My son contracted the disease in Canada or do you believe also that it does not cross borders. It is a very mild illness but is quite traumatic for younger kids -- especially when the mouth is infected.

[smileplur]

This news is particularly alarming for me. Being from the United States, we don't have many outbreaks of this disease.

Absolute balderdash. My son contracted the disease in Canada or do you believe also that it does not cross borders. It is a very mild illness but is quite traumatic for younger kids -- especially when the mouth is infected.

According to the CDC website, it is not common. I cannot recall an outbreak during my childhood or time living in the US. Here

s a direct quote from their website:

Large outbreaks of hand, foot, and mouth disease are not common in the United States. However, in some countries in Asia, outbreaks are large and occur often. Thousands of people may get infected. Some people, particularly young children, may have severe disease requiring hospitalization or even causing death.

http://www.cdc.gov/hand-foot-mouth/index.html

[Scott]

I can confirm that it does occur in Canada and the US. It's not very common, but it does occur.

Edit: Off-topic posts deleted.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Scott

[Redr0m]

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common, mild illness caused by a type of virus called an enterovirus..

But it is absolutely horrible if you happen to be one of the affected kids or a parent. Watching them cry through the pain is terrible.

Generally, hand, foot and mouth disease is a mild and short-lasting illness. Treatment is usually not needed as the body's immune system clears the virus and symptoms go away after about 7 to 10 days.

Thankfully and contrary to the mass hysteria most kids emerge with no long term effects and no worse the wear.

My daughter just had it. She is 2.5 years old. She got it before the hysteria broke out, and i researshed how to deal with and ur right no treatment is needed. The fever part was the worst 24 hours with 40 degrees fever. The rash she didnt even care about and was gone within a week. Very easy process all in all.

And thank god she got it before the hysteria otherwise i would have had to spend hours convinsing my wife that its not serious. Now my wife is swearing at the news inducing panic in the people.

[Lite Beer]

29 Bangkok schools suspend classes following HFMD outbreak

BANGKOK: -- At least 29 schools in Bangkok have suspended some of their classes or shut down their whole facilities in the wake of the hand, foot, and mouth disease or HFMD outbreak.

"In Bangkok, most patients are young children aged not over four years old," Dr Wongwat Liewlak said Tuesday as the head of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) Communicable Diseases Control Division.

According to the Public Health Ministry, 12,581 people have come down with the HMFD in Thailand between January 1 and July 9 this year. There is no report of casualties.

-- The Nation 2012-07-17

[Moruya]

This news is particularly alarming for me. Being from the United States, we don't have many outbreaks of this disease. Prior to this event, I admit to having very little knowledge about it at all. It has been confirmed that there is at least one case of it at my school. There hasn't been any talk of closure yet, but you never know when a school like Chula does something like this. Others may very well follow.

What alarms me most about it are a few things:

1) The sanitary conditions where I work -- The toilet closest to my desk never has soap. I am told this is because a student drank a large amount of it once, so they removed the liquid soap dispenser. The toilet is cleaned often, but the knobs and handles frequently touched are not. Students don't often wash their hands when they finish their business. Without soap, running water over hands isn't very hygienic as far as I can tell. I mean we all touch the same things to flush the toilet or turn the water on and off.

Also, there is one plastic cup at the water dispensing machine. This plastic cup can be used by anyone. I fill up my own water bottle, but students and Thai teachers don't always do the same. Otherwise, students can use the shared plastic cup that belongs to their classroom. I would hope this is cleaned a few times a day, but I highly doubt it. I've never seen anyone washing one. I watched 20 kids line up at a different water machine and use the same cup after a PE class today. Furthermore, the cup invariably touches the nozzle where the water is dispensed. This means that transmission can also occur when using another personal water bottle, cup, or whatever.

2) I am no doctor, but what are the ramifications of using a 'bum gun' that's been used by an infected person? It seems to me that this is another possible way for the virus to spread rather easily. It's a recipe for disaster,

I'm fairly certain that my place of employment isn't going to close, but you never know. We've already faced a lot of disruptions. While a week off would be lovely, I'd prefer the time in the classroom to catch up to where we should be at this point in the school year. The ramifications of this disease are seemingly nil for a healthy adult, but I would hate to see a bunch of students fall very ill. I'm not so sure which strain this is, as I have learned to be skeptical of media downplay of such things. This is especially true considering the recent outbreak in Cambodia. I'm not expecting a whole lot of truth to be disseminated regarding the extent of this outbreak.

3) As has already been stated, misdiagnosis by doctors appears to be very problematic. Antibiotics seem to be prescribed for every ailment. I've had doctors try to give them to me for a severe headache! These drugs can cause complications with this disease.

Well, we will just have to wait and see how this one plays out!

I believe your bum will be fine.

[smileplur]

This news is particularly alarming for me. Being from the United States, we don't have many outbreaks of this disease. Prior to this event, I admit to having very little knowledge about it at all. It has been confirmed that there is at least one case of it at my school. There hasn't been any talk of closure yet, but you never know when a school like Chula does something like this. Others may very well follow.

What alarms me most about it are a few things:

1) The sanitary conditions where I work -- The toilet closest to my desk never has soap. I am told this is because a student drank a large amount of it once, so they removed the liquid soap dispenser. The toilet is cleaned often, but the knobs and handles frequently touched are not. Students don't often wash their hands when they finish their business. Without soap, running water over hands isn't very hygienic as far as I can tell. I mean we all touch the same things to flush the toilet or turn the water on and off.

Also, there is one plastic cup at the water dispensing machine. This plastic cup can be used by anyone. I fill up my own water bottle, but students and Thai teachers don't always do the same. Otherwise, students can use the shared plastic cup that belongs to their classroom. I would hope this is cleaned a few times a day, but I highly doubt it. I've never seen anyone washing one. I watched 20 kids line up at a different water machine and use the same cup after a PE class today. Furthermore, the cup invariably touches the nozzle where the water is dispensed. This means that transmission can also occur when using another personal water bottle, cup, or whatever.

2) I am no doctor, but what are the ramifications of using a 'bum gun' that's been used by an infected person? It seems to me that this is another possible way for the virus to spread rather easily. It's a recipe for disaster,

I'm fairly certain that my place of employment isn't going to close, but you never know. We've already faced a lot of disruptions. While a week off would be lovely, I'd prefer the time in the classroom to catch up to where we should be at this point in the school year. The ramifications of this disease are seemingly nil for a healthy adult, but I would hate to see a bunch of students fall very ill. I'm not so sure which strain this is, as I have learned to be skeptical of media downplay of such things. This is especially true considering the recent outbreak in Cambodia. I'm not expecting a whole lot of truth to be disseminated regarding the extent of this outbreak.

3) As has already been stated, misdiagnosis by doctors appears to be very problematic. Antibiotics seem to be prescribed for every ailment. I've had doctors try to give them to me for a severe headache! These drugs can cause complications with this disease.

Well, we will just have to wait and see how this one plays out!

I believe your bum will be fine.

I believe I clearly stated that the use of a bum gun can lead to an increased risk of transmission of the disease. I also stated that I am not concerned about my own well-being as a perfectly well grown adult. I am concerned about the health and well-being of the students I teach.

Is that so difficult to understand? Did you bother to read anything else written, or was this just your silly attempt at poking fun at a serious post from a person concerned about the ramifications of this? Either way, you come across as foolish,

[Tanlic]

I looked it up simply because I was aware F and M can't affect people and wondered what on earth was going on.

This is the first time I have ever heard of this decease.

On the site I found it said it mainly affects kids under 10 and showed the symptoms as red spots your hands.

If you find you have red spots on your hands I wouldn't panic as it's unlikely you have it, it's more likely it's just Syphilis ;0)

[connda]

The Coxsackie virus? Sounds like something you'd get at Nana Plaza if you aren't careful.

Edited July 17, 2012 by connda

[edko]

This news is particularly alarming for me. Being from the United States, we don't have many outbreaks of this disease. Prior to this event, I admit to having very little knowledge about it at all. It has been confirmed that there is at least one case of it at my school. There hasn't been any talk of closure yet, but you never know when a school like Chula does something like this. Others may very well follow.

I'm back in the USA for a short while. Two days ago my 16 month old grandsons (twins) came down with this disease. One evening of discomfort and the next day fine. My daughter says it was picked up at the gym she goes to.

What is difficult for me to believe is the 'sky is falling' attitude of so many posters over a viral infection that is seriously not serious. The negative attitudes of so many posters on here denigrating Thai officials for not containing something so difficult to contain, so easily spread, is simply appalling. Are you people for real?

[Thai at Heart]

Kids were being forced to wash hands religiously in my kids school today.

Very easy apparently, parents are keeping kids home. 9 of 17 absent.

[smileplur]

This news is particularly alarming for me. Being from the United States, we don't have many outbreaks of this disease. Prior to this event, I admit to having very little knowledge about it at all. It has been confirmed that there is at least one case of it at my school. There hasn't been any talk of closure yet, but you never know when a school like Chula does something like this. Others may very well follow.

I'm back in the USA for a short while. Two days ago my 16 month old grandsons (twins) came down with this disease. One evening of discomfort and the next day fine. My daughter says it was picked up at the gym she goes to.

What is difficult for me to believe is the 'sky is falling' attitude of so many posters over a viral infection that is seriously not serious. The negative attitudes of so many posters on here denigrating Thai officials for not containing something so difficult to contain, so easily spread, is simply appalling. Are you people for real?

Did you bother to read the rest of my post about why it would be a cause for alarm? It is serious. Numerous children have died in nearby countries. It is miserable for children despite usually being harmless in the long term. Hygiene and sanitation aren't a high priority, as my experience will show regarding the very minimum of providing soap in communal toilet areas. It is SOAP! It's not ROCKET SCIENCE! I didn't talk about any Thai officials at all, so I wonder why you are quoting my post. I certainly didn't say the sky was falling. I said, in other words, that I was concerned about the outbreak for some of the reasons outlined in the OP and raised further questions which I am not educated about.