SOPs circulated; no fresh case reported in Kashmir
Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, Oct 1: Even as more than 13 cases of contagious Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) also known as Tomato Flu have come to the fore, the Director of School Education, Kashmir (DSEK) today said that there was nothing serious about it and that there is a need for managing such cases rather than panicking.
DSEK, Tasaduq Hussain, while talking to media persons on the sidelines of an event here, said that he has talked to the Health Department and that there was nothing to worry about while underlining the need for adhering to the SOPs issued.
“We have issued the necessary instructions to the concerned that those children who have the symptoms should be isolated immediately at home apart from the necessary preventive measures at the school level,” he said.
He noted that the disease was not serious, not dangerous and neither was alarming. “We have to fight these things. It is just fever, cough, and sort of blisters in the mouth, nothing beyond that,” he said.
He said that there is a need to look out for these symptoms and if parents get to notice such symptoms, “they should make sure to keep the child at home for a few days and prefer not to send them to school,” he said.
DSEK said that he has talked to the Director of Health Services, Kashmir and that he has been told that nothing was alarming or serious about it. “I have talked to the director of health services, and I have been told that it is not so alarming, rather it is normal and we will be able to tackle the situation,” he said.
Concerning the awareness, he said that the Health Department has already issued dos and don’ts and that the DESK has also taken necessary steps in this direction aiming for awareness.
“We have in this regard, already sensitized our heads of institutions to the fact that in case there are any of the identified symptoms, such children should be sent home for proper isolation apart from maintenance of hygiene.”
He said that the COVID pandemic was dealt with effectively and the way the people adhered to the SOPs then, the same needs to be done to deal with the HFMD disease.
“We should not panic, we have already fought the COVID-19 pandemic, and in comparison to that, this is a small thing. We have to just take the precautionary measures while the parents also have to maintain an eye on the symptoms, if any, and act well in time,” he said.
Earlier, at least 13 cases of the disease were reported from Mallinson School in Sheikh Bagh here, following which the health department, as well as the School Education Department, issued advisories to prevent the further spread of the disease apart from the directions to the CEOs to ensure adherence to SOPs.
While the concerned school has shut Nursery and KG classes, the officials in the health department told Excelsior that there has not been any fresh case of HFMD disease reported from anywhere in Kashmir.
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