Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a common illness caused by a virus. The virus is very contagious. It spreads easily through contact with stool, coughs, sneezes, and runny noses. Anyone can get hand-foot-and-mouth disease, but it's most common in children.
Symptoms are usually mild. They often start with a mild fever, a poor appetite, and a sore throat. In a day or two, blisters or sores may form in the mouth, on the hands and feet, and sometimes on the buttocks. Mouth sores or blisters are often painful and may make it hard to eat. Not everyone who gets infected has symptoms.
Home care can help relieve the symptoms. They usually go away in about 7 to 10 days. This illness is caused by a virus, not bacteria, so antibiotics won't help.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is not the same as foot-and-mouth disease (or hoof-and-mouth disease), which occurs in animals.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a common illness caused by a virus. The virus is very contagious. It spreads easily through contact with stool, coughs, sneezes, and runny noses. Anyone can get hand-foot-and-mouth disease, but it's most common in children.
Symptoms are usually mild. They often include blisters and sores on the hands and feet and in the mouth. The symptoms usually go away in about 7 to 10 days. Home care can help relieve the symptoms.
At first your child may feel tired, get a sore throat, or have a fever. Then in a day or two, sores or blisters may appear in or on the mouth and on the hands, feet, and sometimes the buttocks. In some cases a skin rash may appear before the blisters do. The blisters may break open and crust over.
The sores and blisters usually go away in a week or so.
In some cases there are no symptoms, or they are very mild. Parents may get the disease from their children and not even realize it.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease usually doesn't need treatment. You can use home care to help relieve your child's symptoms.
For pain and fever, ask your doctor if you can give your child acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen (such as Advil). Do not give your child aspirin. It has been linked to Reye syndrome, a serious illness. Be safe with medicines. Read and follow all instructions on the label.
Children are most likely to spread the disease during the first week of the illness. But the virus can stay in the stool for several months and may spread to others. To help prevent the disease from spreading:
A doctor can tell if your child has hand-foot-and-mouth disease by the symptoms you describe and by looking at the sores and blisters. Tests usually aren't needed.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is an illness that causes sores or blisters in or on the mouth and on the hands, feet, and sometimes the buttocks and legs. They may be painful. The illness usually doesn't last more than a week or so.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is common in children but can also occur in adults. It can occur at any time of year but is most common in the summer and fall.
It is not the same as foot-and-mouth disease (sometimes called hoof-and-mouth disease) or mad cow disease. These diseases almost always occur in animals.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is caused by a virus called an enterovirus.
The virus spreads easily through coughing and sneezing. It can also spread through contact with infected stool or blister fluid. This can happen while changing diapers or by touching an object that a child with blisters or sores touched. Often the disease breaks out within a community.
It usually takes 3 to 6 days for a person to get symptoms of hand-foot-and-mouth disease after being exposed to the virus. This is called the incubation period.
Call your doctor now or seek immediate medical care if:
Watch closely for changes in your health, and be sure to contact your doctor if:
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