I selected that disease because it might be mistaken as an oral diseases, but it is mainly systemic disease.
Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a human syndrome caused by intestinal viruses. The most common strains causing HFMD are coxsackie A virus and enterovirus 71.
About the disease:*** HFMD usually affects infants and children, and is quite common.
*** It is moderately contagious and is spread through direct contact with the mucus, saliva, or feces of an infected person.
*** It typically occurs in small epidemics in nursery schools or kindergartens, usually during the summer and autumn months.
*** The usual incubation period (the time between infection and onset of symptoms) is 3–7 days.
*** It is less common in adults, but those with immune deficiencies are very susceptible.
Notice that:
HFMD is not to be confused with foot-and-mouth disease (also called hoof-and-mouth disease), which is a separate disease affecting sheep, cattle, and swine.
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| Rash on hand and feet of a man |
Signs and symptoms include:
- Fever, Headache, Fatigue, and Malaise.
- Sore throat, and referred ear pain
- Painful oral, nasal, or facial lesions, ulcers or blisters
- body rash, followed by sores with blisters on palms of hand, soles of feet, and sometimes on the lips. The rash is rarely itchy for children, but can be extremely itchy for adults.
- Sores or blisters may be present on the buttocks of small children and infants.
- Irritability in infants and toddlers
- Loss of appetite.
- Diarrhea
Early symptoms are likely to be fever often followed by a sore throat. Loss of appetite and general malaise may also occur. Between one and two days after the onset of fever, painful sores (lesions) may appear in the mouth or throat, or both. A rash may become evident on the hands, feet, mouth, tongue, inside of the cheeks, and occasionally the buttocks (but generally, the rash on the buttocks will be caused by the diarrhea).
Treatment
- There is no specific treatment for hand, foot and mouth disease.
- Individual symptoms, such as fever and pain from the sores, may be eased with the use of analgesics. HFMD is a viral disease that has to run its course; many doctors do not prescribe medicine for this illness. Infection in older children, adolescents, and adults is typically mild and lasts approximately 1 week, occasionally longer.
- Fever reducers and luke-warm baths can help bring temperature down.
- Only a very small minority of sufferers require hospital admission, mainly as a result of uncommon neurological complications (encephalitis, meningitis, or acute flaccid paralysis) or pulmonary edema/pulmonary hemorrhage.
Thanks
Manal Raafat
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