Johor is ranked fifth among the states with a high cumulative number of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) cases since January 1 until July 29, this year.
State Health and Unity Committee chairman, Ling Tian Soon said a total of 8,652 cases were reported during the period, an increase of 81.6 times compared to 106 cases for the same period last year.
He said the other states that recorded a high number of cumulative cases were Selangor with 35,575, Perak (13,487), Federal Territories (13,434) and Sarawak (8,727).
“This increase has been projected to happen this year due to relaxation of the standard operating procedure and in line with the rise in cases in Malaysia. However, the situation is still under control.
“This is proven by the significant decrease in the trend of HFMD cases reported in Johor starting from the Epidemiology Week (ME) 22/2022 until ME30/2022,” he said in a statement, here, today.
Ling said most of the HFMD cases in Johor involved children under the age of six, with 7,451 cases, followed by 1,033 cases among those aged seven to 12 and the rest were aged over 13.
He said the district of Johor Baru recorded the highest number of cases at 2,989, Kluang (1,119), Tangkak (888), Batu Pahat (887), Segamat (775), Kota Tinggi (690), Pontian (578), Muar (330), Kulai (269) and Mersing (127).
“Until now, only two active outbreaks of HFMD were reported in the state involving Johor Baru district,” he added. – Bernama