ILOILO CITY – More than 1,000 children in Iloilo have been infected with hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD).
The Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) said 1,115 cases were recorded from Jan. 1 to Feb. 4.
IPHO said that only nine out of 43 municipalities do not have HFMD cases. More than 480 barangays across the province have recorded HFMD cases.
Dr. Maria Soccoro Colmenares-Quiñon, IPHO chief, said this was a 2,004 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022 when there were only 53 cases of HFMD. Quiñon noted that 441 HFMD cases were recorded in one week from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4.
She said there is no outbreak yet despite the high number of cases. “Our numbers are high, but that’s because we have good surveillance and reporting,” she said in a statement on Friday, Feb. 10.
Quiñon assured that the IPHO is working with concerned local government units (LGUs) to prevent the spread of HFMD.