Dear Elementary School Parents,

As many of you will know, we have an outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) in our school community. You may have read Dr. Andy Davies most recent eNews post on the subject earlier today.

Unfortunately, this afternoon, we have made the decision to close a class in Grade 4 following an additional confirmed case of HFMD. Parents of students in that class have been contacted.  As was the case when our Pre-K classroom closed last week, students in the affected Gr 4 class will remain at home, and away from ISB campus until the classroom is reopened again next Wednesday. We will be undergoing deep cleaning and disinfecting affected areas, and continuing to monitor students on campus.

Hand, Foot and Mouth disease is common with young children and is moderately contagious. It usually affects only young children and spreads from person to person by direct contact. It has an incubation period of 3-6 days. This is the time between catching the disease and showing symptoms.  Therefore it is important to watch for symptoms of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease and if any are present, follow up immediately with your doctor.  Given that it is contagious, it is important that any child who is at all unwell is kept home until they are well, to help prevent an outbreak in other classes.

The early symptoms are fever, loss of appetite, sore throat and generally feeling unwell. After one or two days, sores develop in the mouth, tongue and inside of the cheeks. Within about a day, sores develop on palms, soles of the feet, between the fingers and toes and the buttocks (in some people).

General guidelines for prevention are through basic hygiene;

–  Wash hands with soap and running water before eating and after going to the toilet
–  Cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing
–  Maintain good air circulation
–   Do not share eating utensils
–   Avoiding contact with infected individuals
–  Cleaning of contaminated surfaces by diluted solution of chlorine-contained bleach (approximately ¼ cup of bleach with 1 gallon of water)

While it is important to focus on these preventive measures, there is no need to spread unnecessary alarm within our community. If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact Dr. Sally Plomley.  sallyp@isb.ac.th