Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common but highly contagious infection in children caused by enteroviruses, including coxsackieviruses. While generally a mild illness, some children will have fever, sore throat and tiredness and blisters which can be uncomfortable. It mainly occurs in children under 10 years of age but can also occur in older children and adults. It is not related to the foot and mouth disease that affects animals. Your doctor can diagnose hand, foot and mouth disease based on the symptoms. Laboratory tests are not usually necessary. Signs that an infant or older child might have a more serious form of hand, foot and mouth disease include any of the following:. If any of these signs are present then the child should be seen by a doctor urgently even if they have been checked earlier in the illness. Blisters in the mouth may also make it painful for children to swallow fluids.
What is hand foot and mouth disease?
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Health and Wellness. You pick your child up from daycare, and you notice she is developing a fever. A few days later, you see her scratching her palms. Once you notice the small sores that have formed around her mouth, it clicks. Hand, foot, and mouth disease HFMD has taken hold. HFMD cases can range from mild to severe. They are more likely to impact children 5 years and younger, and the disease usually clears up completely within 7 to 10 days. However, adults can catch the virus that causes the disease as well — and even though you may not show any signs of the virus, you still can pass it along to others. Hand, foot, and mouth disease usually begins with a fever, reduced appetite, sore throat, and feeling lethargic. After developing a fever , painful sores may develop in the mouth.
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DermNet provides Google Translate, a free machine translation service. Note that this may not provide an exact translation in all languages. Home arrow-right-small-blue Topics A—Z arrow-right-small-blue Hand foot and mouth disease. Hand foot and mouth disease HFM is a common mild and short-lasting viral infection most often affecting young children. It is characterised by blisters on the hands, feet and in the mouth.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease — a mild, contagious viral infection common in young children — is characterized by sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet. Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is most commonly caused by a coxsackievirus. There's no specific treatment for hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Frequent hand-washing and avoiding close contact with people who are infected with hand-foot-and-mouth disease may help reduce your child's risk of infection.
