China's Child Virus hits 39 deaths, 27,500 reported cases

Five more children have died of hand, foot and mouth disease in China, bringing the death toll to 39 since late March, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday.

A girl died in eastern Anhui province from enterovirus 71, a virus that causes a severe form of the disease, Xinhua said. Anhui is the worst-hit province, and was where the first wave of deaths from the disease were recorded in March.

Another child died on the southern tropical island of Hainan and three in southern Guangdong province, but no further details were available about their cases, Xinhua said.

Most cases of hand, foot and mouth in China this year have been blamed on enterovirus 71.

Hand, foot and mouth has sickened 24,934 children in six provinces, Xinhua said. Cases have cropped up from Guangdong province in the south to Jilin province in the northeast, along with major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

As is now the standard practise everytime an epidemic happens, a doctor has been made the hero in the fight against HFMD. This time the honour falls on Dr Liu Xiaolin of Fuyang city. Meanwhile, one Beijing doctor that was previously held up as a SARS hero has now been accused of taking bribes.