Hand, foot and mouth disease in the Mekong Delta is alarming, children are at risk of getting sick 2-3 times

Talking to reporters, Doctor Huynh Hung Dung, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases (Can Tho Children's Hospital) - said that through understanding the situation, the current number of cases of hand, foot and mouth disease is mainly in children under 10 years old, often found in the group of 1-5 years old, children of nursery school and kindergarten age.

Doctor Dung emphasized that currently, many parents mistakenly think that children only have hand, foot and mouth disease once. In fact, hand, foot and mouth disease is an infectious disease caused by many strains of viruses. Therefore, some children may get the disease 2-3 times, or even more in the first years of life; or many times a year.

Although most cases of hand, foot and mouth disease are treated at a mild level, this disease can lead to dangerous complications if not treated promptly. Complications may include respiratory failure, pneumonia, etc.

According to statistics at Can Tho Children's Hospital, in September 2025, 317 inpatients were recorded, an increase of 6 times compared to September 2024. In October 2025, the number of cases increased 4 times compared to the same period last year.

In the first 2 weeks of November 2025 alone, nearly 1,500 children with hand, foot and mouth disease were treated as outpatients (an average of over 100 children examined/day) and nearly 300 inpatients.

Recorded at the Infectious Diseases Department is the case of Mr. Nguyen Hoang Kha (from Ca Mau province) whose child is 2 years old this year. He said that in the early days, the child showed signs of fever, fatigue, and cravings. Thinking that their child was sick, his family took him to a private clinic for examination and medicine. After 2 days, the child still did not recover, Mr. Kha was impatient to take his child to Can Tho Children's Hospital for examination and learned that his child had a hand, foot and mouth disease.

"The child had thick blisters and could not sleep for several nights. I learned that there are many children here with such hand, foot and mouth disease in the hospital," said Mr. Kha.

Because it was the first time he saw his child have hand, foot and mouth disease, Mr. Kha was also confused, from taking care of him to lure him to avoid scratching his child on water acne.

"Parents need to be really careful because young children often fight, and when they are sick, they are easily angry. It is best to take the child away immediately when he has strange initial signs, to avoid getting into serious trouble like us" - Mr. Kha advised.

The most serious case was Ms. Le Trang's nephew who had a second infection with his hand, foot and mouth. Although they have experience in caring for children, due to unusual manifestations, the family cannot help but worry.

"This time, I am very tired, have a high fever, feel weak and feel bad to eat. The situation is so complicated, now the whole family can only take care of the child to recover quickly" - Ms. Trang said.

According to the health sector, the top effective preventive measure is still personal hygiene and environmental hygiene. Parents should wash their hands regularly with soap in running water many times a day (both adults and children), especially before processing food, before eating, before carrying children,...

In particular, when parents see their children showing signs such as fever, mouth ulcers, watery water, blisters in the hands - feet - mouth (may be in the knee, buttocks), belly belly, ... they need to take the child to the hospital immediately for treatment.