Deadly virus threatens China's children - The Independent 8th May 2008

Chinese health authorities are grappling with a virus that has killed 28 children and is set to claim more lives, with reports of a preliminary cover-up of the highly contagious disease echoing the Sars epidemic of 2003. The disease is hand, foot and mouth, a relatively common childhood illness, but what is unusual is that the current outbreak is at its worst when caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71). There is no vaccine or antiviral agent available to treat or prevent EV71, which is spread mostly through contact with infected blisters or faeces and can cause high fever, paralysis and swelling of the brain. It is unrelated to foot-and-mouth disease, which affects cattle, sheep and swine.

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