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Chandigarh: Now, suspected hand, foot and mouth disease cases found at St Kabir, DPS
St Kabir to remain closed for nursery to Class 2 on July 28; DPS switches classes of nursery and preparatory students to online mode for two days
Two days after three kindergarten students of Yadavindra Public School, Mohali, were found infected with the highly contagious hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), suspected cases of the infection were also detected at St Kabir Public School, Sector 26, and Delhi Public School (DPS), Sector 40, in Chandigarh on Wednesday.
As a result, St Kabir Public School has decided to remain closed for nursery to Class 2 on Thursday (July 28) and DPS has switched the classes of nursery and preparatory students to online mode for two days (July 28 and 29).
In a communication to parents, St Kabir said the kindergarten student found infected commuted by the school bus and parents must inform the school in case their ward was also diagnosed with the disease. The school is also planning to shift to virtual classes.
School administrator Gurpreet Bakshi said it was a precautionary measure. “We have one suspected case and we are waiting for the report. In case there is a positive case, we may shift to online classes for some days,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bhavan Vidyalaya, Chandigarh, has also decided to close its pre-primary classes for three days. School principal Vineeta Arora said, “The attendance of students was very thin. So, we decided to close only for pre-primary classes as a precautionary move.”
Earlier, on Tuesday, in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases in the city, St John’s High School, Sector 26, had decided to conduct all its classes in online mode from Wednesday onwards till further notice.
Regarding government schools, director school education (DSE) Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar said, “We have not received any report of any child falling sick at any government school. Also, there is no advisory by the health department regarding suspending physical classes.”
‘Isolation of infected patient must’
Meanwhile, the UT health department issued an advisory to control the infection spread.
It advised that infected patients should be isolated for infection control. Close contact with the patient and sharing of their belongings must be avoided.
The department said the disease was more likely to affect infants and children younger than five years, but older children and adults can also get it.
The disease is usually mild and gets over in a week, and treatment is directed towards the symptoms. Initial symptoms include fever, poor appetite and sore throat and in day or two, painful sores develop on the mouth, hands and soles of the feet. Rashes may also appear on knees, elbows, buttocks or genital area. But people infected with the viruses that cause the disease may not get all the symptoms.
Depending on the severity of the symptoms, samples from the throat or stool are collected for testing, which is available at the department of virology, PGIMER.
