HANOI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has reported 10,196 hand-foot-mouth disease cases since early this year, an increase of 2.3 times compared to the same period last year, according to the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health on Wednesday.
The majority of the cases were reported in the southern region with more than 7,500 cases, said the department.
The disease was reported mostly at kindergartens where 90 percent of children aged under 5 were infected, with no fatalities reported so far, it said.
Hoang Minh Duc, the department's director, said there is currently no vaccine available to prevent the hand-foot-mouth disease. The primary mode of transmission for the disease is through the digestive tract, making preschool educational facilities high-risk environments for infection. ■
