There were 1,109 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) diagnosed during the week from Sept. 22-28 in Singapore, according to the data released by the city- state's Ministry of Health.

The number was the highest this year and was over twice compared with 482 cases at the same time last year. So far, there were 21,060 cases reported until Sept. 28, which was much lower than the 33,650 cases at the same times in the previous year.

The number of the viral infection has been surging during the last four weeks, from 860 cases in the week from Sept. 1-7 to over 1,100 cases at the end of last month.

The HFMD usually affects young children, with common symptom of fever, mouth ulcers and rashes on the palms, soles or buttocks.

Singapore had experienced an epidemic of the HFMD last year, with the number of weekly cases rose to 1,687 during the week of May 13-19 in 2012.