Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson has appealed to parents to remove children who are infected with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease from school for at least seven days to allow them to fully recover so as to prevent transmission to others. Dr. Ferguson was speaking during a joint press briefing with the Ministry of Education on Friday (October 2, 2015).
“Schools should also frequently clean and disinfect areas particularly those where young children frequent. We are asking school administrators to make an immediate report to the Medical Officers in their Parish or to the Parish Health Department if they suspect that there may be cases of the illness in their school,” he said.
Since August, the Ministry intensified its infection prevention and control campaign and has been urging persons to observe proper hygiene practices at all times including washing hands regularly with soap and water and covering nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing to reduce the spread of germs. These practices can help to limit the spread of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease.
“I want to remind teachers, administrators, parents and guardians that they should also limit person to person contact among infants and young children such as hugging, kissing or sharing utensils especially for affected children,” Dr. Ferguson said.
The Ministry has prepared and made available guidelines on managing Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease to schools through the Ministry of Education. Information is available on our website at moh.gov.jm. Persons may also like and follow us on www.facebook.com/themohgovjm; https://twitter.com/themohgovjm; https://instagram.com/themohgovjm for additional updates.