Meanwhile, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) was preparing to issue guidelines on how to guard against HFMD.

The guidelines will be distributed among schools, nurseries and public places with a large number of child visitors, Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin said.

In Bangkok, two schools, including the Bangkok Christian College (BCC), were closed yesterday for disinfecting. Lab tests are being carried out to determine whether a six-yearold BCC student who died on Saturday contracted HFMD.

As of press time on Tuesday, Medical Sciences Department director general Dr Paijit Warachit said the boy did not contract the Enterovirus 71, which was mainly responsible for the virulent form of the HFMD.

"But we are checking whether other virus causes the HFMD in this case," Paijit said.

Meanwhile Apirak inspected the BCC, which will be closed until September 21.

"We were informed of the boy's death only on Monday," BCC director Woranuch Triwijitkasem said. She added that no other parents have reported that their children were ill.

Caretaker Deputy Public Health Minister Anutin Charnveerakul and the Disease Control Department's directorgeneral Thawat Suntrajarn also inspected BCC yesterday.

HFMD is a common illness among infants and children, and is characterised by fever, sores in the mouth, and a rash with blisters. In serious cases, HFMD can be fatal.

This year, HFMD has infected 1,360 children, with five of them having died from a virulent strain of the disease, Enterovirus 71. Also, nine other child victims have succumbed to symptoms associated with the disease.

The Nation