Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD)
I wish to refresh our minds on Hand Foot Mouth Disease because for this week in my own clinic alone, I was able to see a number of children with this disease entity.
Hand foot mouth disease is due to a virus that belongs to the group of enteroviruses. Initially, the child will present with fever, sore throat, painful mouth sores and then later they will have poor feeding because of the sores and there will be drooling of the saliva.
The red spots may develop into blisters and found in the tongue, gums and inner cheeks. These blisters may be seen also in the following areas:
– palm of the hands
– soles of the feet
– buttocks
Then the affected child may feel so unwell and irritable and will have decreased appetite.
It is because of the fever, the irritability and the poor appetite that children are brought to the clinic for assessment.
This Hand Foot Mouth disease has no specific treatment. For fever, they are being given Paracetamol. Parents are encouraged to offer more fluids and to avoid giving hot and acidic drinks and foods.
For the older children who are already attending school, we tell the parents to let them stay home to avoid exposing other children with the virus. They are no longer contagious and safe to go back to school when already afebrile for more than 24 hours and when all the blisters have healed.
So, how can one avoid having hand foot mouth disease (HFM)? The following measures have to be encouraged and practiced:
– strict handwashing
– limit contacts and
– do surfaces disinfections