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.

News ID: 255507170017

Reporter : suwit