Add new comment

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.

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).

The Sarawak Health Department was monitoring the situation, which was now stable with the last HFMD-related death reported on Aug 8.

13 new cases were detected with six children admitted to the hospitals over the last 24 hours up to 10am today, though none are critically ill.

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.

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.