Hand, foot and mouth disease reaches peak seasonDate: 8/12/2016 GREATER SPRINGFIELD – It usually starts with a slight fever, runny nose and cough. Then the characteristic red rash shows up on your child’s hands and feet, and there are spots on the back of his or her throat.
What started out looking like a summer cold has bloomed into one of the season’s most common viral illnesses for children under five years of age. Your little one most likely has contracted hand, foot and mouth disease.
“It’s definitely the season for it,” said Dr. Michael Klatte, pediatric infectious disease physician at Baystate Children’s Hospital. Klatte said the first cases usually starts to appear in late spring and continue into early fall, with “summer being the most predominant time by far.”
The culprit is a strain of the Enterovirus, which collectively causes an average of 6 million infections in the U. S. annually, though not all of those cases, Klatte noted, are hand, foot and mouth. Playgroups, daycare centers, summer camp situations – places where children are in close contact with each other and sharing toys and equipment – are likely transmission points for the illness, which spreads through nasal secretions or fecal matter. Proper hand washing, controlling runny noses and regularly cleaning toys can help stem the spread.
“We’ve seen it in older children, but it’s most common in the younger ones,” he said. Occasionally an adult will contract the virus, but the symptoms are usually limited to a mild cough or diarrhea, he added.
This season Klatte noted, he’s seen a slight variation in the way the hand foot and mouth disease rash presents in his patients.
“It has been causing a more widespread rash across the body, which can be seen all down the arms and legs, and slightly on the chest as well,” he added. Symptoms of the illness last about a week.
Typical treatment includes a non-aspirin pain reliever to help control the fever and any discomfort from lesions on the hands and especially the soles of the feet, which Klatte said can be “somewhat painful” to walk on. If your child complains that the rash is itchy, he suggested you treat it with an emollient lotion to reduce scratching, but avoid creams with steroids such as hydrocortisone. Klatte said scratching the rash can lead to a secondary bacterial infection.
Children who have eczema and contract hand foot and mouth should be seen by a physician to mitigate any skin issues.
He added it’s always prudent to confirm the diagnosis with your pediatrician, especially if there is a question about when your child can return to daycare or a playgroup.
“Typically I suggest if you can, keeping [your child] home from playgroups or daycare until they have had the rash for about a week or so, or until the fever and runny nose has subsided and they are less infectious,” Klatte said. He also advises doing your best to quarantine any older children from infants, who can develop much more serious illnesses, including meningitis, when exposed to hand, foot and mouth disease.
“Keep the older kids away from the babies and wash your hands, wash you hands,” Klatte said.
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