HFMD Scare: 26 Children Found Infected In Odisha, 19 From Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: A total of 26 cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) have been detected in Odisha so far, Health director Bijay Mohapatra informed on Tuesday.

“Of the 36 samples collected and tested in RMRC, Bhubaneswar, 26 were detected with HFMD. Among the infected children, 19 are from Bhubaneswar, two from Khurda, three from Puri and two from Cuttack. All the infected kids are in the 1-9 years age group. They have been asked to remain in isolation for 5-7 days,” he said.

Amid the sudden spurt in the viral infection, the Odisha government had earlier said that it was alert to the issue and monitoring the situation.

AIIMS-Bhubaneswar and Capital Hospital authorities had recently told the media about the detection of multiple cases with symptoms similar to HFMD, triggering apprehensions. They had been receiving four-five patients with such symptoms for the last two weeks.

The HFMD has been in news recently with an outbreak in Kerala, where it was initially called Tomato fever. The virus is generally self-limiting and resolves within a week with symptomatic treatment, but in rare cases causes severe encephalitis of the brain, experts opined.