Do you know HFMD? It's short for Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease. This year, in China, thousands of children were suffering from it. What's HFMD? How to prevent it? Now, read the passage please.
HFMD usually affects babies who are 1~4 years old, but adults can also be infected. Both EV71 and Cox A16 can cause HFMD, which usually starts with a slight fever followed by blisters (水泡) and ulcers (溃疡) in the mouth and rashes (皮疹) on the hands and feet. It can be spread through people with the mucus (唾液) or feces (粪便) of an infected person. It usually appears during the summer and autumn months. HFMD isn't Bird Flu, SARS or Mad Cow Disease, but it’s not a new one, either. It first appeared in New Zealand in 1957. About forty years later, it appears in Asia. It's reported that it breaks out every 2 or 3 years.
HFMD is very terrible and there is no vaccine (疫苗) now, but we can do something helpful to prevent it. ‘Children with HFMD should seek medical treatment as early as possible’, experts say. They also suggest that parents keep the air fresh in a child's room, which should be kept clean, tidy and dry. Children should be taught to wash their hands regularly. Staying away from crowded public places is also basic.
