Outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease severe in Alabama

blog.al.com - February 13, 2012 - by Hannah Wolfson, The Birmingham News

Alabama has been hit with the first U.S. outbreak of a foreign form of the virus that causes the childhood illness called hand, foot and mouth disease this winter, according to state health officials.

That's causing more and tougher cases of the disease, including infections in adults and some hospitalizations, said Mary McIntyre, an infectious disease specialist at the Alabama Department of Public Health. 

People are more vulnerable because they've never been exposed to it, McIntyre said. Even adults who likely had hand, foot and mouth as a child and have been resistant in the past are more vulnerable to the new strain. 

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