HFMD (mouth)
Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) is an infectious disease caused by a virus of the enterovirus genus, especially Coxsackie virus type A, B and Echovirus. It is said that enterovirus that causes HFMD consists of 68 serotype. Most of HFMD in everyday life is caused by the Coxsackie virus A 16 (CA 16) it shows mild symptoms and do not require any special treatment. When HFMD caused by enterovirus 71 (EV 71) it shows severe symptoms and require special care in hospital.
The disease is more often about attacking children under 10 years of age, especially infants and toddlers. If it attacked an adult, usually causes no significant complaints. In general, this disease cured by itself within 70-10 days. Actually, this disease has long been known, but in recent decades become a fairly horrendous news due to unusual (outbreaks) in some countries, especially China, Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian regions. For example, in March 2010, China reported an outbreak of HFMD occurred as many as 77.756 HFMD cases with the number of deaths reached 40 patients.
HFMD (foot)
Symptoms
- The disease usually begins with a fever, poor appetite, malaise (feeling vaguely unwell), and often with a sore throat.
- One or 2 days after fever onset, painful sores usually develop in the mouth. They begin as small red spots that blister and then often become ulcers. The sores are usually located on the tongue, gums, and inside of the cheeks.
- A non-itchy skin rash develops over 1–2 days. The rash has flat or raised red spots, sometimes with blisters. The rash is usually located on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet; it may also appear on the buttocks and/or genitalia.
- A person with HFMD may have only the rash or only the mouth sores.
Cause
- HFMD is caused by viruses that belong to the enterovirus genus (group). This group of viruses includes polioviruses, coxsackieviruses, echoviruses, and enteroviruses.
- Coxsackievirus A16 is the most common cause of HFMD in the United States, but other coxsackieviruses have been associated with the illness.
- Enteroviruses, including enterovirus 71, have also been associated with HFMD and with outbreaks of the disease.
Spread
- Infection is spread from person to person by direct contact with infectious virus. Infectious virus is found in the nose and throat secretions, saliva, blister fluid, and stool of infected persons. The virus is most often spread by persons with unwashed, virus-contaminated hands and by contact with virus-contaminated surfaces.
- Infected persons are most contagious during the first week of the illness.
- The viruses that cause HFMD can remain in the body for weeks after a patient’s symptoms have gone away. This means that the infected person can still pass the infection to other people even though he/she appears well. Also, some persons who are infected and excreting the virus, including most adults, may have no symptoms.
- HFMD is not transmitted to or from pets or other animals.
Treatment
HFMD (hand)
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 medication. HFMD is a viral disease that has to run its course; many doctors do not issue medicine for this illness, unless the infection is severe. Infection in older children, adolescents, and adults is normally very mild and lasts around 1 week or sometimes more. Fever reducers will help to control high temperatures. Luke-warm baths will also help bring temperature down.
Only a very small minority of sufferers require hospital admission, mainly as a result of neurological complications (encephalitis, meningitis, or acute flaccid paralysis) or pulmonary edema/pulmonary hemorrhage.
References
-http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand,_foot_and_mouth_disease
