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  • 10 months ago
Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary of Health Dr. Faith Brebnor says look out for signs and symptoms of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease in young children.

She tells Tv6 while there is no need for panic, the spread must be contained.

More from Nicole M Romany.
Transcript
00:00There are reports of increasing cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in Tobago.
00:07According to statistics from the County Medical Office of Health in Tobago,
00:12cases doubled from 17 to 34 in the period February 9 to 22.
00:19Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection, Dr. Faith Brebner,
00:24is today urging parents to pay attention to their children.
00:28She tells TV6 the virus is nothing new.
00:31It occurs just like the flu and poses no serious threat.
00:35But caution must be taken to avoid multiplying the highly contagious skin infection.
00:42If you see that your child has these signs and symptoms, keep them home
00:47because when they go to school and they interact with other children at school,
00:52they are more likely to pass it on to somebody else.
00:55While if you keep them home, we just kind of wait out the time,
00:58they'll be fine and you can send them back to school in a week or so again after they are better.
01:03The Health Secretary notes that measures have been put in place
01:07at teaching institutions in Tobago to protect the student population.
01:12Dr. Brebner explains that the Division Responsible for Health
01:17has been working closely with the Division of Education to ensure they do what is necessary.
01:23We have protocols that have been set up where it speaks to what happens if a parent,
01:30if a teacher sees that a child has a case, call the parents quickly,
01:34have them come back for the child so that the child is not in school for the whole day interacting with others.
01:40It goes back to sanitizing of the school, sanitizing of the area in particular where the child was.
01:46And again, when we say sanitizing, we're really not talking about anything extravagant.
01:50We're really talking about going back to the plain old soap and water
01:54because that is what kills the virus, that is what kills the bacteria.
01:58Using the alcohol-based sanitizer if you don't have soap and water.
02:03She lists the symptoms to be on the alert for.
02:06You may see loss of appetite, sore throat and hand, foot and mouth disease.
02:10And then you start seeing the crust, you start seeing the sores, you start seeing the rash popping up.
02:16So once you see those things happening, definitely keep the children at home,
02:20keep those areas as clean as you can.
02:23So keep them washed, keep them clean.
02:26And of course, if the child comes into contact with, you know,
02:29like the bed sheet and the clothes that they're wearing and that kind of stuff,
02:32keep that, you know, wash those things as well.
02:36Nicole M Romany, TV6 News.
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