Hand-foot-mouth cases on the rise in China

China's news agency has reported that the amount of hand-foot-mouth disease cases has risen to 15,799, resulting in 26 deaths.

Two kindergartens in Beijing have been closed after children showed symptoms of the disease as the county is doing its best to contain the outbreak.

Xinhua reports that there have been 1,482 cases in the capital city and outbreaks have been reported in ten provinces in the country together and in the municipalities of Beijing and Chongqing.

Qin Gang, China's health ministry spokesman, told a new conference: "The Chinese government is paying great attention to the virus and related departments are taking effective measures to stop it from spreading."

Hand-foot-mouth disease is a common illness in children and is caused by a family of virus's called enteroviruses and the fatalities in the current outbreak are linked to the enterovirus 71 which can cause a severe form of the disease.

The virus is commonly spread through direct contact with mucus or saliva of an infected person. Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, fatigue and a non-itchy rash.

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