Two more Chinese infants died from hand-foot-mouth disease Thursday, bringing the death toll from the outbreak in Shandong Province this year to 11, the local health authority said Friday.

The latest victims were a girl surnamed Liu and a boy surnamed Chen, who died in Heze City. Both of them were a year old, according to the provincial health administration.

No more information was available.

Heze has registered nine deaths from the disease in the outbreak and Jining City two this year. The first victim was a 20-month boy who died in Heze on March 22.

In Shandong, at least 7,632 children were infected by the disease as of Thursday. Another city in the province has reported two deaths.

Heze has been the worst-hit area with 3,800 reported infections as of Thursday, including 185 serious. So far, 2,704 have recovered.

The disease, which is more common in summer and autumn, is not included in the routine reporting list of infectious diseases in China.

Hand-foot-mouth disease is a common childhood illness that mainly affects children under the age of 10. Symptoms include fever, sores in the mouth and a rash with blisters. It can sometimes be fatal if complications occur.

(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2009)