China hails doctor for raising child virus alarm

BEIJING (Reuters), May 9 - A strain of hand, foot, and mouth disease has killed four more children in China, bringing the death toll in recent weeks to 34, state media said on Friday, as it praised a doctor who alerted authorities to the epidemic.

An 8-month-old girl and a boy age one and a half, who both died in southern China, were among the latest victims of an outbreak international experts have warned has yet to peak.

Two more deaths were reported in Bozhou, in the eastern province of Anhui that has been at the centre of the outbreak.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a common childhood illness, but in the current outbreak it has been linked with enterovirus 71 (EV71) which can cause a severe form of the disease characterised by high fever, paralysis, and meningitis.

The girl died early Monday morning in Guangdong province, which has registered four deaths from EV71, Xinhua said.

The boy, from the neighbouring Guangxi region, started running a fever on Saturday but his parents didn't take him to hospital until Tuesday. He became Guangxi's second fatality.

There is no vaccine for the disease, and normally patients recover within a week to 10 days. But cases involving enterovirus 71 usually lead to more severe symptoms.

State media on Friday praised a doctor in Fuyang city in Anhui province who called in experts after she was baffled by the deaths of several children that colleagues insisted were just suffering severe colds or flu.

The official People's Daily carried a tribute with the headline "We salute you, Fuyang's Liu Xiaolin," comparing her to a doctor who helped lead the fight against the deadly SARS virus.

"We have no way to count how many children were treated and cured because of Liu Xiaolin's responsibility and steadfastness; there is also no way to calculate how many families avoided the epidemic because of her sharpness and courage," it said.

Liu had previously helped uncover a baby milk scandal, when fake formula made without key nutrients caused the death by malnutrition of several children.

There are now about 25,000 cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease across China.

Neighbouring Vietnam is facing about 3,000 cases this year, more than its total number in 2007. Eleven children there have died, the most recent a 19-month-old girl.

Outbreak

In March, 22 people died in a cluster of EV71 cases in Fuyang city. That outbreak was not made public until late April, provoking calls for Fuyang officials to be sacked.

The outbreak has also triggered memories of the deadly SARS epidemic that crippled China in 2003. China initially covered up the SARS outbreak.

The situation in Fuyang was stabilizing, with patients being discharged outnumbering those being admitted to hospital for the first time since the outbreak started, Xinhua reported, citing the Ministry of Health.

The World Health Organisation has said the delay in publicly announcing Fuyang's hand, foot and mouth disease outbreak was not because of any cover-up. It was due to problems local doctors faced trying to identify the illness.

China has since issued a nationwide alert, closing kindergartens and sending officials to visit nurseries and primary schools and educate staff on hygiene and prevention.

A U.S. health official offered to assist China in curbing the outbreak, and U.S. Health Secretary Michael Leavitt is to visit Beijing next week, Xinhua reported.

"We are willing to help China in any way possible with this issue," it quoted William Steiger, head of the Office of Global Health Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health, as saying.

Last Updated: 2008-05-09 9:01:31 -0400 (Reuters Health)

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