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File image: Classroom.
Health officials in KwaZulu-Natal have held a workshop with some school principals in Durban about hand, foot and mouth disease and how its spread can be stopped.
One hundred and seventeen cases of the viral infection have been recorded at more than 10 primary schools, creches and daycare centres in just over a week in the north of the city.
Head of Communicable Disease Control at the Provincial Department, Babongile Mhlongo says, “Most of the schools, the early childhood development centres (ECDs) and the primary schools are currently affected by this outbreak. They do have the infrastructure to make sure that hands are washed and they keep the hygiene.”
She says, “We even had a session with some of the principals where we were trying to allay their fears because we could see they were scared on their side, the calls that the team in eThekwini were getting from some of the schools, hence we had a meeting with them.”
Mhlongo says they understand the difficulties that teachers may encounter in the classroom.
She says one of the ways the virus spreads, is through droplets from the nose and mouth.
Mhlongo says this poses a challenge with young children who tend to share learning aids as well as putting things in their mouths.
“We said to them at least for now they must make sure the sharing of toys are avoided by all means, because that is the main transmission that we suspect might be happening in these schools and we’ve said also the cleaning of surfaces; it might be the tables that these children are using.”
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