The number of children infected with a lethal virus in Fuyang, Anhui province has increased to 1,552 and the death toll to 20, as of yesterday.

On Monday, the toll was 915 sick and 19 dead.

Kindergartens in Fuyang have closed three days ahead of the Labor Day holiday which begins tomorrow.

Enterovirus 71, an intestinal virus, starts with a slight fever followed by ulcers in the mouth and blisters on the hands and feet. If not treated in time, it can be fatal.

A total of 585 children have so far recovered and 412 are in hospital. Of those, 26 are seriously ill.

In order to avoid further contamination, the Fuyang government told kindergartens to close early for the holidays.

Liang Jingwen, head of the Fuyang Textile Mill Kindergarten, said a 3-year-old girl fell ill a week ago.

"She is still in hospital and her parents are very worried. But keeping children at home does not tackle the problem at its source," she said.

"Parents need to teach their kids proper hygiene to improve their immunity."

The local government said all children under 5 with suspected symptoms must go to medical institutions above county level. There are more than 400,000 such children in the city.

Yesterday, the city also released 500,000 pamphlets on how to prevent the virus from spreading.

As the number of victims soars, the two designated hospitals are becoming overcrowded.

"With 200 infected kids, our hospital is fully occupied," a doctor from Fuyang No 2 Hospital, who declined to give his name, said.

"But more and more parents are bringing their children, who have the symptoms, to our hospital," he said.

The Ministry of Health has recruited 35 medical workers from Hubei and Hunan provinces to assist Anhui in containing the virus. Investigative teams from the ministry and the local government are still trying to find out what caused the outbreak.

Lu Xiude, a publicity officer with the Henan provincial public health bureau, told China Daily there are "sporadic cases in places adjacent to Fuyang".

But so far no deaths have been reported in these places.

A medical team has been sent to Huaibin county, bordering Fuyang, to investigate the situation and more information will be released today, Lu said.

(China Daily 04/30/2008 page4)