JINAN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Four more children died of hand-foot-mouth disease in east China's Shandong Province, driving up the death toll from the 31 in the province, the provincial health authorities reported Monday.

    The latest four deaths occurred in the last seven days in three different cities, two in Linyi City, one each in Heze City and Tai'an City, said an official with Shandong Provincial Health Bureau.

    No other details about the newly-died children, such as the sex and age, are available.

    The total deaths include 19 in Heze, three each in Liaocheng an Linyi, two each in Jining and Tai'an, and one in Dezhou and Yantai, according to Shandong Provincial Health Bureau.

    The populous province has reported more than 39,429 cases of the contagious disease, 117 of which were severe, local health authorities said. So far, 34,103 have recovered.

    Hospitals in the province were ordered to reserve enough beds and other resources to prepare for any massive outbreak, and public awareness campaigns have been mounted.

    The disease killed 79 children nationwide this year as of April23, the Ministry of Health said earlier.

    According to the ministry, the disease was mainly reported in rural areas and nearly 80 percent of the total cases were in 10 provinces and autonomous regions including Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Guangxi and Zhejiang.

    Hand-foot-mouth disease is a common 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. May and July are peak periods for the disease.