(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-06 16:01

The southern province of Guangdong reported 1,692 cases on Monday, an increase of 767 from Sunday. Three boys have died so far in the outbreak.

Zhejiang Province in east China said on Monday that 1,198 children have been infected this year, and that a 5-year-old boy died on April 6.

In southwestern Chongqing Municipality, 42 sporadic cases have been detected since Thursday.

Beijing recorded at least 1,482 cases as of Monday, of which 818 were reported in kindergartens. The capital's neighboring Hebei Province reported 206 infections.

Cases have also been reported in the provinces of Jiangsu, Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Jiangxi and Henan.

Tang Xiaoping, an epidemic expert and deputy head of the health bureau of Guangzhou, said the drastic rise in cases reflected the order by the Ministry of Health on Friday, which classified HFMD as a C class epidemic that must be reported to the ministry.

According to the Guidelines Regarding Prevention and Control of HFMD published on the Ministry of Health website, HFMD can be caused by a host of intestinal viruses, but EV71 and the Coxsackievirus (Cox A 16) were the most common.

HFMD usually starts with a slight fever, followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet.

Those sickened by EV71 often have serious symptoms. It can also lead to meningitis, encephalitis, pulmonary edema and paralysis in some children.

The ministry asked hospitals for daily reports on the disease and told local health departments to report emergencies promptly and spend more on research into the disease.

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