Statistics: Affluent families triggered HFMD outbreak

GEORGE TOWN: More affluent families in Penang, who travelled with their children during the school holidays last month, triggered the extreme outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) plaguing the state.

State Health Committee chairman Dr Afif Bahardin said children who had much more exposure to human contact during last month’s school holidays came back with the HFMD and spread it to other children when they returned to their schools or daycare centres.

“We saw that pattern of HFMD cases spiking after school holidays in the past, only that this time there is an extremely high increase,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

In revealing the latest statistics on the outbreak, Dr Afif said the spread of the disease in the state was now beyond the danger level and it is spreading fast in the more affluent Northeast District of the island.

Of the 2,170 cases recorded this year – a 100.2% spike from the same time last year – 1,090 cases are in the Northeast District where areas like George Town, Pulau Tikus, Tanjung Bungah and Batu Ferringhi are.

In stark contrast, there are only 65 cases reported in rural North Seberang Prai, and 235 and 327 cases in Central and South Seberang Prai respectively.

On the island’s Southwest District that includes Balik Pulau, 453 cases were found.

Dr Afif said, however, that the number of cases were more than last year in all districts.

When the state Health Department began ordering schools to close for 10 days early last week, only Chinese vernacular schools and one international school were closed.

In one vernacular primary school that was ordered to close 11 classrooms in Sungai Ara, a booming suburb on the island near Bayan Lepas, public health inspectors found 52 pupils infected with the HFMD virus.

In contrast, a national-type school in the rural area of Sungai Bakap in South Seberang Prai was ordered to close one class after two children caught the disease.

As of Wednesday, only two national-type schools out of seven schools were closed. Seven preschools, nine nurseries, 11 kindergartens and one daycare centre were also serving their closure orders as of Wednesday.

The number of HFMD infection clusters in Penang is 1,112% higher at 97 compared with just eight last year.

Dr Afif stressed that the disease is self-limiting and patients will recover with enough time and rest.

He shot down a WhatsApp message which had been spreading and causing panic among parents by falsely claiming that the disease had killed a child in Penang.

“There has been no deaths due to HFMD. It is not life-threatening. But it is painful for children and they might have to be warded because of neurological complications due to high fever.

“The state is checking on premises such as schools and daycare centres daily because the disease causes a loss of manpower and drop in productivity when parents have to take time off to care for and quarantine the sick children at home.”