BESUT – A total of 907 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) have been recorded in Terengganu as of yesterday, compared to 782 cases on May 7.
Terengganu Health Department Director Datuk Dr Kasemani Embong said the HFMD cases involved 19 nurseries and kindergartens in the state.
“However, so far, the childcare centres are operational and children who are not suffering from the disease can continue their schooling or stay at the centre as usual,” she said.
She told this to reporters after opening the state-level World Malaria Day celebration at Dewan Merdeka, Kota Putera Square near Kg Raja, here today.
Dr Kasemani said parents need to play a role in containing the spread of the infection, such as not sending their children to daycare centres if they had symptoms.
In another development, Dr Kasemani said since 2012, the state had not recorded any malaria cases involving humans, however, zoonotic malaria infections (present in monkeys) are now quite worrying.
She said from January this year until yesterday a total of 13 malaria cases were reported in Terengganu, of which 12 cases were zoonotic malaria infections and one human malaria case was an imported infection.
“Out of the 12 cases of zoonotic malaria, two deaths were recorded, one each in the Hulu Terengganu and Setiu districts.
“Zoonotic malaria infection is caused by the plasmodium knowlesi parasite, which is transmitted from monkeys to humans through mosquito bites, and it has emerged as the leading cause of malaria deaths in the country since 2017,” she said, adding that rapid land clearing for plantation activities is among the contributors to increased human exposure to the disease. – Bernama, May 16, 2022
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