By Teh Jen Lee

A CHILDCARE centre in Boon Lay has seen at least three outbreaks of disease in the past four months.

And the most recent one, involving the dreaded hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), has upset parents.

In June, the Cherie Hearts centre in the Chevrons building had an outbreak of chicken pox.

This was followed in September by an outbreak of viral gastroenteritis, or stomach flu, which affected at least 21 kids.

In the latest outbreak, the first case of HFMD was discovered last Saturday, followed by three more cases on Tuesday.

Another four cases have since been reported, bringing the total to eight.

Some parents claim that they were not informed in a timely manner about the HFMD cases.

One mother, an assistant manager who gave her name as Mrs Chong, 38, said: 'They didn't inform us. It was only when I went to pick up my daughter on Tuesday that I heard from one parent about the case last Saturday.'

She said parents should be told immediately whenever there's a case because the children eat together.

Upset, she plans to withdraw her child, who is in K2, from the centre by the end of next month.

Another mother who gave her name as Mrs Yeo, 32, also plans to move her two younger children to another centre.

She is spooked because her eldest child had caught HFMD before.

She said: 'My eldest son got HFMD about six years ago. It's really terrible. He had ulcers in the mouth and couldn't eat.'

A third parent, who declined to be named, said her 3-year-old son was affected in the past two outbreaks at the centre.

She said: 'He got chicken pox and I had to take leave for five days to take care of him. Then, for gastric flu, I took another two days.

'He's already very skinny and small-built. With all this, he has grown even thinner.'

Earlier case?

She alleged that her son also contracted HFMD while attending the centre in June, for which she had to take five days of leave to care for him.

This is disputed by the Cherie Hearts management, which said the current HFMD outbreak is the first since it took over the centre in May.

Madam Judy Koh, a manager whose son has been attending the centre since he was 2, only found out about the outbreak on Wednesday when she found a circular in her son's bag.

She said: 'I think it is important for the centre to alert all parents by phone within the same day when it receives information from affected parents.

'This will enable parents to make alternate arrangements if they opt to keep their children away from the centre.'

However, Ms Pearl Ong, the branch director of Cherie Hearts at Chevrons, said the centre did inform all parents on Saturday when the first case was reported.

She said: 'We notified every single parent of our 68 kids on the first day. Only one parent was not informed because her number had changed, but we told her on that day itself when she came for a parents' meeting.'

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She added that calls were also made about the Tuesday cases.

'Unfortunately, we missed out two. These are the only two I know of. We thought we had already informed them.

'Nobody wants this to happen. We are really doing whatever we can, informing parents through circulars, e-mails, phone calls and SMSes.'

A circular dated 28 Oct listed more than 10 preventive measures that the centre staff were taking, such as health screenings four times a day where temperature is taken and children are checked for ulcers, blisters, red spots of bumps.

Toys, mattresses and furniture are disinfected at least once a day.

The circular also said the Ministry of Health (MOH) had been notified and asked parents to look out for symptoms of HFMD, such as fever lasting a few days and small fluid-filled blisters on the hands, feet and diaper areas.

MOH stipulates that it must be notified if two or more cases of HFMD are diagnosed in a centre.

Children who are unwell should be taken to a doctor and allowed to rest at home until certified medically fit to attend school.

Ms Ong said this is where some parents are not co-operative.

She said: 'I called parents of infected kids and asked them to keep their siblings at home, but some insisted on taking them to the centre.

'They came with doctor's certificate to say the child is not infected. But later on, it turns out that she is. What can I do?'

4 THINGS ABOUT HAND, FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE

• About 12,000 children have caught HFMD this year, with close to 30 per cent of infections caused by the virulent enterovirus 71, orEV71.
• HFMD is usually a mild childhood illness which causes rash and blister spots on the hands, feet and buttocks, and sores in the mouth and throat.
• It is passed through bodily fluids like saliva. It can be caused by about 80 viruses but EV71 is particularly feared as it is behind most of the seven deaths during the 2000- 2001 outbreak here.
• The rise in the EV71 cases made MOH tighten its rules. If the virus is active for more than 15 days and more than 13 children at the centre are affected, it will be temporarily shut down.

This story was first published in The New Paper on Oct 31, 2008.