313 children affected by hand, foot and mouth disease

313 children affected by hand, foot and mouth disease

Over 300 children are now suffering from the hand, foot and mouth disease.

In a joint press conference with the Ministry of Education yesterday, Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson disclosed that, as of Thursday, there were 313 reported cases of the disease in 98 schools.

The unaffected parishes so far are Trelawny, Hanover, Manchester, and Clarendon.

The health minister noted that most of the cases reported were from schools in St Catherine, which accounted for 153 cases in 38 schools.

He noted that 11 schools have also been closed because of the outbreak of the disease.

The health minister pointed out that not all the cases of the disease are current, as in some instances, schools reported cases from as far back as a month ago.

Ferguson stressed that the health ministry will continue to monitor the outbreak closely.