Hong Kong : School closures due to HFMD

A press release from the Dept. of Health in Hong Kong, excerpt :

" Learning Habitat Kindergarten & Bilingual Nursery (Hampton Loft) in Yau Tsim Mong has been advised to suspend classes for two weeks until June 15 following investigation by the Department of Health's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) into a Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD)/herpangina outbreak at the school involving eight pupils.

One of the cases in the kindergarten with herpangina who developed complication, a three-year-old girl, was reported to the CHP this afternoon (June 1). She was admitted to Queen Mary Hospital (QMH). The other affected pupils are in stable condition.

The girl presented with fever and sore throat on May 23 and was diagnosed as herpangina on May 24 by a private paediatrician. Her fever subsided on May 25. She then presented with neck pain on May 29. On May 30 she developed unsteady gait and tremor and was admitted to QMH. She was diagnosed to have cerebellitis.

The girl is now in stable condition. Result of laboratory investigations is pending. In a related development, Cannan Kindergarten in Whampoa Garden which has been closed for a week will continue to suspend classes between June 3 and 9 as two new cases have emerged during the surveillance period, with the two affected pupils now in stable condition.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for CHP said the 43-year-old male patient at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) had been tested positive for enterovirus 71 (EV71)."