Have You Heard of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease?

We are facing an infection epidemic that is more common in children, especially during the summer and autumn months. The popular name of this disease, which mainly presents with high fever, a rash on the hands and feet, and aphthous-like sores inside the mouth, is hand, foot and mouth disease?

We learned about the microbes called enteroviruses, which cause hand, foot and mouth disease, from the Child Health and Diseases specialists at Hisar Hospital Intercontinental.

The viruses coxsackievirus A, coxsackievirus B and enterovirus 71, which cause hand, foot and mouth disease, cause outbreaks during the summer and autumn months. Although rarely seen in adults, this disease is more common in children under 10 years of age who attend nursery and school. With the start of the pool season, the disease becomes an epidemic through swallowing of infected pool water. Clinically, after a short incubation period of 4-6 days, high fever and aphthous-like sores develop on the tonsils, tongue and inside the cheeks. There are red, painful rashes on the palms and soles, sometimes filled with fluid. Rarely, these rashes can also be seen on the legs, buttocks and genital organs. The rashes resemble chickenpox but are smaller in size than chickenpox. These findings resolve within a week. During this period, children cannot eat even though they have an appetite due to the painful sores in the mouth; it is recommended that they be fed mainly with liquid foods such as soup and milk, and cool foods such as yogurt that do not cause pain in the mouth sores. Various sprays may be used to reduce the pain of mouth sores and accelerate the healing process, and drying lotions may be used for the rashes. Since the disease is a viral infection, there is no antibiotic treatment; it resolves on its own after completing its course. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease. It is usually transmitted through the respiratory and oral routes, by close contact with a person carrying the disease, or by swallowing infected water (such as pool water).

Enteroviruses can also cause diseases such as herpangina (sudden-onset high fever, headache, vomiting, aphthous sores in the mouth), acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (severe eye pain, photophobia, blurred vision, watery eyes, red eyes, swelling of the eyelids), pleurodynia (chest pain), bronchitis, laryngitis, diarrhea and vomiting, aseptic meningitis, encephalitis and myocarditis. However, these diseases are not as common as hand, foot and mouth disease and do not cause outbreaks.