HFMD: Johor records 8,376 cases as of Saturday

JOHOR BAHRU, July 17 (Bernama) -- A total of 8,376 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) were reported in Johor from Jan 1 till yesterday, a 79-fold increase compared to 106 cases for the same period last year.

State Health and Unity Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said most of the cases occurred among children under the age of six with 7,214 cases, followed by age seven to 12 (998 cases) and the rest over age 13 (164 cases).

He said Johor Bahru district recorded the highest incidence with 2,897 cases, Kluang (1,093), Tangkak (883), Batu Pahat (846), Segamat (752), Kota Tinggi (650), Pontian (539), Muar (325), Kulai (266) and Mersing (125).

"So far, there is only one active outbreak of HFMD reported in the state, in the Johor Bahru district," he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Ling said 75 per cent of the cluster of respiratory tract infections, namely influenza-like illness (ILI) and upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) reported in Johor, involved educational institutions.

He said the number of epidemic clusters reported until the 28th Epidemiology Week (ME) 2022 also showed an increase, with 16 clusters compared to eight clusters for the same period last year.

According to him, a total of 1,352 cases of URTI were reported in the state until the 28th ME/2022, compared to 574 cases in the same ME period last year.

"Monitoring carried out by the Johor State Health Department on ILI and URTI infections shows the situation was still under control despite several clusters detected in boarding schools," he said.

-- BERNAMA