The NSW opposition has called on the government to explain why it failed to issue a standard public health warning about an outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease in Wollongong, despite acknowledging the illness is not a notifiable disease.
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A Wollongong primary school, with about 300 students, had an outbreak last week.
Opposition Health spokesman Walt Secord issued a statement on Wednesday saying "it should be standard practice for the state government to issue a public alert to local media at the very minimum".
However, he acknowledged the disease, spread by poor hygiene, was not a notifiable disease, under NSW government regulations.
Hand, Foot and Mouth disease appears with blisters, which remain for seven to 10 days during which time it is highly contagious. It is a virus that usually presents itself in young children at primary school and childcare centres.
Mr Secord argued the outbreak only became public "when the school principal took it upon herself to issue a notice to parents at the school".
He said NSW Health itself had admitted there had been a spike in the disease in the last three years.
"As a parent, I would want to know if my child had been exposed to this communicable disease," Mr Secord said.
'The community has a right to know and parents need to be alerted to the symptoms and signs, so they can properly care for their kids."
A NSW Department of Education spokesman said public schools followed advice from NSW Health "in relation to public health issues like this".
According to the NSW Health website, primary school principals and directors of childcare centres should notify their local public health unit once aware that a child is suffering from vaccine-preventable diseases.
They are encouraged to seek advice when they suspect an infectious disease outbreak is affecting their school or centre, such as outbreaks of respiratory illness.