Two baby boys in Heze City of east China's Shandong Province died of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) between Sunday and Monday, local authorities said.

A seven-month-old infant died at 8:23 p.m. Sunday 10 hours after he was rushed to the Heze Infectious Disease Hospital. A 15-month-old boy died at noon Monday in the People's Hospital of Juancheng County, Shandong Provincial Health Department reported.

The Health Department has dispatched expert teams to Heze to instruct emergency treatment as well as disease control and prevention.

Some teams arrived in Heze Monday night to start disease research, disinfection, technical training as well as medical education among the public.

Medical equipments were also sent to Heze to assist the fight against the disease.

According to the Ministry of Health, HFMD can be caused by a host of intestinal viruses, but EV71 and the Coxsackievirus (Cox A16) were the most common.

HFMD usually starts with a slight fever followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet. Those with EV71 often show serious symptoms. It can also lead to meningitis, encephalitis, pulmonary edema and paralysis in some children. There is no vaccine.

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2009)