Sarawak Requests Federal Funds For HFMD Study

KUCHING, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Sarawak, which has been hit twice by the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) epidemic this year, is requesting more funds from the Health Ministry to undertake further study on its transmission dynamics.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan said Monday the state had the expertise to carry out the study, which was necessary to establish a base level for HFMD cases, before it could be declared HFMD-free within the next few weeks.
"The disease is endemic to Sarawak but it is important to know if five or six new cases detected daily should be considered as a normal level, especially as it is such a new phenomenon," he told a press conference at his office at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Petra Jaya here.
The first HFMD outbreak surfaced on Jan 29 while the second on May 7 and has claimed 13 lives so far, including seven who were tested positive for the deadly Enterovirus 71 (EV71).
Dr Chan, who is chairman of the State Disaster and Relief Management Committee, said the Sarawak Health Department was monitoring the situation, which was now stable with the last HFMD-related death reported on Aug 8.
On the daily update, he said 13 new cases were detected with six children admitted to the hospitals over the last 24 hours up to 10am today.
"Altogether, 13 patients are still in the wards but none is critically ill," he said.
With the latest figures, the total number of reported cases stood at 14,227 with a total of 2,835 children hospitalised for the disease so far.
Chan said for the past three years the department had been collaborating with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas)'s Health and Community Medicine Faculty for a breakthrough in producing a vaccine for HFMD.
As such, he said federal funding was very much needed to conduct a detailed study for which Sarawak had the expertise, including Prof Dr Jane Cardoza, who had wide experience in dealing with Japanese encephalitis (JE) and malaria.