Hand-foot-mouth disease: no need to worry

Hand-feet-mouth: it looks like a nursery rhyme for children, and in fact it has a lot to do with childhood because a very common and frequent exanthematous disease in preschoolers, between 3 and 6 years.

“It is a viral infection mainly due to Coxsackie Virus or, to a lesser extent, to other enthetoviruses,” explains Elena Chiappini, pediatrician at the Infectious Diseases Unit – Mayer University Hospital in Florence.

“It manifests itself with a rash of pustules or vesicles (the exanthema, in fact) concentrated on the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, the oral mucosa or the tongue. The same viruses can also give more widespread eruptions in other areas of the body or incomplete forms, that is, occur for example only in the oral cavity ».

The virus can contract by the feco-oral route: it is of intestinal origin, but it can come from dirty hands brought to the mouth.

Like many other gastrointestinal infections, it is more frequent in summer, when children play together in the open air, and in autumn, when kindergartens reopen.

“But there is also the possibility of contagion by the respiratory route, so with sneezing, coughing, saliva … The disease is quite contagious and can cause small epidemics, but generally heals spontaneously, without particular complications, which are very rare”, adds Chiappini

Prevention measures? There are none. “If not wash the baby’s hands often, recommend him to do it,” emphasizes the pediatrician.

“The rash is often heralded by fever, even above 38.5, poor appetite, malaise, abdominal pain, and therefore the disease can scare mom and dad a little. Bubbles in the mouth and on the tongue break and sometimes cause pain, causing difficulty in eating; Skin manifestations on the hands and feet, and often also on the buttocks, follow. The spots initially red then become small vesicles, usually without itching.”

The therapy is only symptomatic: “If the child has a fever, he can be given an antipyretic,” explains Elena Chiappini.

“In case of itching, also an oral antihistamine. If the baby does not eat and drink due to the pain caused by the blisters in the mouth, anesthetizing gels can be used to massage the oral mucous membranes and thus give him temporary relief before meals. Only in the most serious cases, especially in the case of an infant, the pediatrician can evaluate a possible therapy to rehydrate the child ».

The disease resolves in five to ten days at most, but as long as it presents the vesicles the child should not be sent to kindergarten or nursery because, in addition to being contagious to others, he also has reduced immune defenses and therefore risks running into other infections more easily.