HFMD is not yet in hand

A teacher checks a child for symptoms of HFMD at a kindergarten in Xiangfan in central China

HFMD (Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease) in China has been in the news lately - Routine Disease, Newsmaking Response. As Lily's father, I find it is worrying in that this virus is the sort of thing that could kill a lot of children - and adults - if it remained uncontrolled in China and spread outwards to the SE Asia-Pacific region, which is my backyard. The Chinese authorities in this communist country have once again shown what admirable global citizens they can be by bungling their response to an epidemic, and by trying to smother reporting on the event. Déjà vu SARS. The Chinese seem to have a predilection for this sort of cover-up, but quite why is a mystery, unless it is that they are sensitive to criticism (but why?) or wish to avoid further bad publicity (which they seem to have been getting quite a bit of) prior to the imminent Olympics event.

I did not know what HFMD was, so I did a search and found an explanatory intro to HFMD here: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm

The nastiest viruses always attack the potentially weakest - the young and then the old - but this one seems to prefer the young.