The Ministry of Health has issued an advisory that there is a viral infection currently spreading around Belize City. It is called the Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, and it affects mostly children who develop lesions on the skin of the hand foot and mouth areas resembling chicken pox.
It is not a fatal illness, but neither does it have a cure. Mark Bernard, a Senior Health Inspector for the Ministry of health told us this evening that to avoid the spreading or contracting the virus, one simply has to practice good hygiene:
Daniel Ortiz
"What is Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease?"
Mark Bernard, Senior Health Inspector - Ministry of Health
"It is a disease that looks like Chicken Pox with soars appearing over the body and in the mouth and with fever. Basically those are the main symptoms."
Daniel Ortiz
"How serious is this disease?"
Mark Bernard
"It is not really serious because it is known to be something as fatal as going to cause death. It's going to cause a discomfort to your child but it's not going to cause death. It usually goes away within 7-10 days. There are no vaccines for it. The treatment for it consists of medication to relieve the pain, some ointments for the soars and a lot of fluids basically."
Daniel Ortiz "Do you guys at the central health region know how many cases there is totally at some point an estimate?"
Mark Bernard
"I think a press release was issued and I think the cases were at 100 there about."
Daniel Ortiz
"How is this disease spread?"
Mark Bernard
"Basically it is spread by coming in close contact with an infected child. It is spread by coughing, sneezing and also it can be spread through feces It is something that we see commonly in children under 10 years of age, so the facilities that are seeing the cases are from pre-school, primary school and daycare facilities."
As noted in the interview, the disease causes quite a bit of discomfort, so the treatment is usually pain medication. It also lasts about 7 to 10 days.
If you suspect that you have it, you are asked to visit the nearest medical center. Currently there are a little less than a hundred confirmed cases.
