“I
want to remind teachers, administrators, parents and guardians that they should
also limit person-to-person contact among infants and young children such as
hugging, kissing or sharing utensils, especially for affected children”
Minister of Health, Dr
Fenton Ferguson on Thursday October 1st 2015 at a joint Press
Conference with the Ministry of Education
Jamaica
is now in the grips of yet another epidemic.
No,
this isn't the dreaded Zika Virus, which the Minister of health Dr. Fenton Ferguson
has assured us isn't in Jamaica as reported in the article “No Zika Virus in Jamaica”,
published October 3, 2015 By Garfield Angus, The Jamaica Information
Service.
Rather,
this is an outbreak of the HFMD (Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease), which has now
spreading across Jamaica like Wildfire among school children as reported in the
article “Hand,
Foot And Mouth Disease Reported In 10 Parishes”, Published Friday October
2, 2015 by Andre Poyser, The Jamaica
Gleaner.
The
stats disclosed by the Minister of Health, Dr Fenton Ferguson on Thursday
October 1st 2015 at a Joint Press Conference with the Ministry of
Education reveals some very grim statistics:
1.
313 reported cases of HFMD islandwide
2.
98 schools reporting cases of HFMD islandwide
3.
11 schools have been closed due to the
HFMD outbreak
4.
10 Parishes affected by HFMD
5.
4 Parishes not affected by HFMD
These
four (4) parishes, interestingly are the ones least affected by the current
drought gripping the island as I’d opined in my blog article
entitled “Water
Shortage at MICO - How I'm dealing with the Water Shortage in Kingston” as
a lack of water for sanitation is being blamed for the rise of this disease:
1.
Trelawny
2.
Hanover
3.
Manchester
4.
Clarendon
The
other affected parishes, which are experience the drought more severely, are
the ones reporting the HFMD cases:
1.
St. Catherine: 153 cases from 38 schools
2.
Kingston and St Andrew: 67 cases from 20
schools
3.
St Thomas: 39 cases from 11 schools
4.
Portland and St Ann: 30 from 19 schools
5.
Westmoreland: 4
6.
St James: 2
7.
St Elizabeth: 6 cases from 2 schools
As
an added precaution, the Minister of Health has advised that children infected with the disease not be allowed to attend school as reported in the article “Keep
children with hand foot and mouth disease at home – Health Minister”,
published Sunday, October 04, 2015, The
Jamaica Observer.
The
school administrators have been advised to not only report suspected cases to
the Health Authorities, SERHA and NERHA but also:
- Limit hugging and kissing
among children
- Washing hands regularly with
soap and water
- Covering nose and mouth when
sneezing and coughing
- Disinfecting surface that
children regularly touch
- Sanitizing and disinfecting
clothing that that they wear
- Keeping Infected Children
separate from uninfected children
So
what exactly is Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease?
Hand, Foot and Mouth
Disease - What it is and What causes the disease
Hand
Foot and Mouth Disease is caused by the Coxsackie Virus, which is a Tetrahedron
shaped virus as shown below.
It
main affects young children, infants, and toddlers and occurs mostly in the
Spring or Fall in nursery schools or kindergartens, basically when water levels
are log in Jamaica and school starts as noted in the article “Outbreak
Of Hand, Foot And Mouth Disease In Several Schools”, Published Monday
September 28, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner
and “Hand
foot and mouth disease”, published Sunday, October 04, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.
Not
sure where the Coxsackie Virus comes from originally, but most likely it lies
dormant in soil, only coming alive when humans decided to drink water from
unsanitary sources, such as rivers, streams or wells that ground water often
exits into as noted in my blog article
entitled “Water
Wastage at MICO - How Waste Water Recycling and Rainwater Harvesting benefits
Agriculture”.
This
would naturally occur during times of drought as was the case in 2009 and then
2012 as pointed out in the article “Keep
children with hand foot and mouth disease at home – Health Minister”,
published Sunday, October 04, 2015, The
Jamaica Observer.
Otherwise
we Jamaicans get our water from NWC (National Water Commission) via the Network
of pipes that criss-cross the island. Good to note that this HFMD seems to be
spreading among mainly children from the Inner City community or living in
Rural Urban setting where accessibility to clean water isn't consistent.
A
good example is St. Thomas, where Jamaica Labour Party Eastern St Thomas
caretaker, Delano Seiveright has noted that his parish has been the worst hit
as noted in the article “Seiveright
says St Thomas worst hit by hand, foot and mouth disease”, published
Friday, October 02, 2015, The Jamaica
Observer.
Children
of parents living in the Gated Communities as well as more Urbanized City Centers
aka Upper St. Andrew and parishes that have access to clean water as listed
above and have well ingrained sanitary practices are naturally unaffected by
this outbreak. HFMD has some very interesting symptoms as well which explains
the name “Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease”:
1.
Fever
2.
Blister-like rash on the palms of the
hands
3.
Blister-like rash on the soles of the
feet
4.
Blisters inside the mouth
It’s
usually spread among infected children who rub their noses, mouths as well as
the bottoms with their hands, coating it with traces of their oral secretions
i.e. nasal discharge, saliva and stool. They then touch each other either by
shaking hands, kissing or hugging, thereby spreading their oral secretions all
over each other.
So
no, just like the Chikungunya Virus is spread by the Aedes Aegypti Mosquito suggest that it is NOT airborn as described in my blog article
entitled “31
infected during Jamaican Chikungunya Virus Epidemic - 113 Deaths in the
Caribbean as Jamaica grapples with Chikungunya Virus Outbreak” so too is the Coxsackie Virus; not airborne!
Rather,
like that epidemic in 2014, this disease is spread in a specific way; via
physical contact with the body fluids of the infected individual, just like the
common cold.
Treatment of Hand Foot
and Mouth Disease - Disinfecting surfaces, Vitamin C and avoid Dehydration
Also,
like the Chikungunya Virus, there is no known cure only treatment of the
symptoms, which mainly involve a fever and the resulting Dehydration, which can
be relieved via drinking water as noted in my blog article
entitled “How
to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - Drink Bottled Water as Dehydration
and Salty Foods makes you lose concentration”.
Taking
Vitamin C by drinking and eating more products that contain Vitamin C such as
Fruit Juices, green leafy vegetable and supplements also helps to boost the
child's immune system.
Vitamin
C also boost the production of Interferon and thereby helps to reduce the
symptoms over time as it does for Chikungunya Virus sufferers as I'd predicted
in my blog
article entitled “Vitamin
C and the Chikungunya Virus –How to increase your Vitamin C Intake, Glutathione
and Interferon by White Blood Cells”.
Prevention
of the spread of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease is also a good measure:
1.
Limit hugging and kissing among children
2.
Washing hands regularly with soap and
water
3.
Covering nose and mouth when sneezing
and coughing
4.
Disinfecting surface that children
regularly touch
5.
Sanitizing and disinfecting clothing
that that they wear
6.
Keeping Infected Children separate from
uninfected children
So
now you know what HFMD disease, symptoms and what causes it, how does this
affect me?
Hand Foot and Mouth
Disease and Miconians - Folks, this is why I do not hug or kiss people at MICO
At
MICO University College, people often
wonder why I do not talk to anyone or hug and kiss people when I greet them.
That's became I’m a germophobe; I dislike physical contact to the point that I
walk with a set of wipes in my bad to clean my hands after touching people or
dirty objects.
At
my apartment, I constantly wash myself and my flat mates often complain that I
take very long baths. I'm also super fond of bleach as well as sweeping and
cleaning my surroundings. My condition isn’t severe; I can have physical
contact with people, just not in an intimate way. Intimacy for me requires that
the female be scrubbed and have all of her body hair shaved.
So
when this story of a Hand, Foot and Mouth disease originally broke from SERHA
(South Eastern Regional Health Authority) on Monday September 28th 2015
as reported in the article “SERHA
monitoring cases of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease”, published Monday,
September 28, 2015, the Jamaica
Observer, I was alarmed but grateful that this was a disease that mainly
affects children.
Otherwise
I’d come to MICO University College wearing a Hazmat Suit with a re-breather to
avoid even breathing the air many of my fellow Miconians breathe. This as I’m
still suffering from the symptoms of the Chikungunya Virus Infection from 2014 as I’d
reported in my blog
article entitled “Minister
of Health comes clean on Chikungunya Virus Epidemic - 35 Official Cases as 60
percent possibly Infected and Medicines running low”.
This
as albeit they are NOT children, some of them still do interact with children
from the Mico Practising Primary & Junior High School! Which means that
many of them, being adult’s, will not show symptoms but can potentially be
Typhoid Mary's i.e. Carriers of the Coxsackie Virus without showing symptoms.
After
all, with the current water shortage, I was more anticipating an outbreak of
gastroenteritis, which has similar symptoms.
Even
Jamaica Labour Party Eastern St Thomas caretaker, Delano Seiveright made the
mistake of assuming that cases involving persons in his constituency reporting
diarrhea and abdominal discomfort after drinking water from unclean sources
were suffering from Gastroenteritis as noted in the article “SERHA:
No Increase In Gastroenteritis Cases In St Thomas”, Published Tuesday
September 1, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.
So
fellow Jamaicans, stock up on water and stay clean.
Otherwise
we might really end up with Triple whammie of viruses; Gastroenteritis, Zika
Virus, H1N1 and a resurgence of the Chikungunya Virus as predicted in my blog article
entitled “Jamaican
Chikungunya Outbreak possible – Why H1N1 Outbreak in Jamaica possible as 1,731
die in India from H1N1 Outbreak”.
At
that point, given out ailing Health Care system as per the Health Audit as
detailed in my blog
article entitled “Audit
of Public Health Care System revealed - How the Minister of Health plans to
correct these problems”, we'll have very little defense if the conditions that
make these disease spread were to suddenly materialize in Jamaica.
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