Parents with infants and toddlers are urged to take extra caution this year for hand, foot and mouth disease ― a mild, contagious viral infection common in young children for which there is no vaccine.

According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 16.7 out of every 1,000 out-patients in local hospitals were diagnosed with the epidemic for the week of June 24-30.

“The infection is maintaining a high prevalence,” the KCDC said in a statement.

This year’s number of patients is lower than the corresponding figure for 2011, which was 29.3, but higher than the 10.4 reported in 2010.

Yet, the authorities advised extra caution, as the disease is hitting other Asian countries harder, and Korea saw its first HFMD death in 2009.

The number of suspected cases rose 2.4 percent in China from a year ago, 3.4 percent in Singapore and 8.7 percent in Vietnam.

HFMD usually affects infants and children in summer and autumn. It is spread through direct contact with the mucus, saliva or feces of an infected person. It typically occurs in small epidemics in nurseries or kindergartens. 

The infection usually starts with a light fever followed by blisters and ulcers around and in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet. The most common strains are coxsackievirus A16 and enterovirus 71. Adults rarely get infected, and if they do, they show minor symptoms.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is often confused with foot-and-mouth disease, a disease of cattle, sheep, and swine. But, the two are caused by different viruses and are not related.

There is no vaccine yet to prevent HFMD. And there is no special treatment for it either, though doctors prescribe medicine to treat the symptoms such as fever or sores.

The disease usually takes a week to run its course. Only a very small number of sufferers require hospital admission, mainly as a result of uncommon neurological complications such as encephalitis, meningitis or pulmonary hemorrhage.

Children younger than 2, especially those who attend nurseries, are at the greatest risk, medical experts say.

A look at the KCDC’s survey during the June 24-30 period also backs this.

About 97 percent of the infected are children aged under 6, with 65 percent of them being less than 2 years old, the KDCD said.

“It was really a nasty disease. My baby couldn’t eat because of sores inside her mouth,” wrote the mother of a 14-year-old girl at an internet caf for moms. “It’s too bad that there is no medicine for this disease.”

Doctors advise good hygiene is the best prevention. Parents should wash their children’s hands often and thoroughly and avoid any contact with infected people, they said.

“In most cases, symptoms go away in about a week, but parents must take caution because of the risk of dehydration since patient’s experience difficulty eating and drinking, or the risk of serious complications such as meningitis,” said Seo Eun-suk, pediatrician at Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)