Hand foot mouth disease
Posted by admin on September 28th, 2009
Hand foot mouth disease is a viral disease you don’t hear about a lot although it does affect many children under the age of 10 as well as some adults. The time that is most common is during the summer and fall months.
Some of the symptoms that usually develop include a fever, a sore throat or mouth, and many times a loss of appetite. These are your earlier symptoms. Normally within a period of a couple of days, blisters will form in the mouth and on the tongue. Children sometimes will develop a blistering rash on their fingers and on the palms of their hands, as well as on the soles of their feet which is usually painless. If your infant turns up with it, they normally end up with a rash on her behind as well.
There isn’t any real treatment for hand foot mouth disease other than to try to relieve the pain and fever with acetaminophen. You also want to give the person that is infected with this illness plenty of water and fluids. Often times it is nice to offer them foods that are soft and bland, and beverages that are either cool or warm but never hot. Another thing that might help the mouth pain either fruit pops or fudge sickles. Just something to help numb the mouth.
This virus is easily spread, so if your child ends up with it they shouldn’t go back to school. It is necessary to keep them out of school or keep yourself out of work until all the symptoms are completely gone. In most cases the symptoms will disappear within a week, so you can pretty much count your self out for that week of work or your child from that week of school.
The way that the virus spreads is through mucous membranes such as the mouth and the nose. It can also spread through contact with fecal matter, so it is always important to wash your hands after using the restroom. Make sure that you pay close attention to keeping your hand sanitary after cleaning your child’s nose or changing your baby’s diaper as this is an easy way to spread the disease. Hand sanitizer is a must.
Although this disease isn’t real common it is important to know what to look for are what to consider that it might be if symptoms appear. Try to keep the person comfortable and wait out the virus. That is about all that you can really do.
Tags: hand foot mouth disease, hand foot mouth disease symptoms