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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