Learn All About Hand-foot-mouth Disease

Hand-foot-mouth disease is a viral infection that is more prevalent in children aged 0 to 5 years, although it is known that schoolchildren and adults can also contract it.

It usually starts from the throat and then spreads to the other areas of the body.

If you want to know more about this contagious disease, pay attention to our article.

How is hand-foot-mouth disease spread?

As with the rest of the contagious diseases, the first thing about hand-foot-mouth disease is to know how it is transmitted.

That is why it is important that you know that this viral infection is transmitted by:

•  feces
• saliva
•  fluid released by blisters
•  nasal secretions
•  direct contact with the infected person through kisses, hugs, hand rubbing …, etc.
•  touching an infected object (cutlery, glasses, toys, clothes, table surfaces …, etc.

What are the symptoms of hand-foot-mouth disease?

Some of the most common signs of this viral infection are:
• Reddish rash or blisters on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet
• Painful sores in the throat, gums, the area around the mouth, tongue, inner cheeks and tonsils
• Frequent headache
• Febrile states
• Loss of appetite
• Muscle pain and discomfort throughout the body
• Sore throat
• Drooling excessively (young children)
• In some patients a rash appears in areas of elbows, knees and buttocks.

What is the treatment for hand-foot-mouth disease?

The most feared thing about this disease is that, at least so far, there is no medicine to stop it.

When a child is infected, the only thing that can be done is to provide the necessary attention and care to make the time during which the virus remains latent more bearable.

Hand-foot-mouth disease lasts about 7 days.

The treatments that can be applied in these cases are:

• Dosage of medicines used to lower fever according to the child’s weight (young children) or their age. In this case it can be Paracetamol (oral route), Ibuprofen (oral route) and Dipyrone (tablet or suppository)
• Drink plenty of water
•  Mouthwash and gargle with a saline solution to cool the infected throat, tongue, and tonsils. For this you can boil a cup of water with half a teaspoon of salt. Let the liquid cool before giving it to your child.

Important: The treatments recommended in this post should be previously consulted with your child’s pediatrician.

He is the one who knows for sure what care you should provide for your little one.

Know all about hand-foot-mouth disease

Hand-foot-mouth disease is caused by several strains of the coxackie virus or coxackievirus group.

Every time one of these viruses infects, the organism becomes immune to it, but only to it; your child can contract the disease again if he gets another virus from the group.

That is why it is so important that you take all steps to avoid exposing your child to germs.

The best way to do this is to maintain good hygiene.

Wash your child’s hands quite often, especially if he is already walking and playing on the floor.

Disinfect their toys and any surfaces they can touch. Germs can be anywhere.

Something else to know about this condition is that if your child develops ulcers inside his mouth, he may not want to eat hot food that may touch the palate.

To avoid pain and refresh it, give soft and cold foods such as ice cream, jelly and custard.

Finally, we know how important it is for a child to play and interact with others.

But your child can get the infection if someone infected coughs or sneezes near him and without covering himself with a tissue, touches him directly or shares an object.

Therefore, if there is the slightest suspicion that one of your friends has hand-foot-mouth disease, avoid playing with him until you are sure otherwise.

Remember that your priority should be the health of the child and their physical well-being in general.