By Penelope A. Domogo, MD

Lately, we have been seeing young children with suspected hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).
HFMD is a mild, contagious viral disease affecting young children, although it can affect any age. It is caused by a coxsackievirus. Again what have we been saying about viral diseases? They are self-limiting- meaning they will go away once they have finished their course. That is their nature and we thank God for creating them that way. Except a few deadly viral diseases like rabies.
What are the symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease?
– fever
– sore throat
– felling sick or fussiness in infants
– painful, blister-like lesions on the tongue, gums and/or inside cheeks
– rashes on the palms and soles and sometimes, buttocks. Not itchy but it can have blisters and painful.
– Loss of appetite
HFMD is a mild viral disease. There is no specific treatment because it is a viral disease. Do not take antibiotics as it will get better on its own in 7 to 10 days. The patient just stays home, eat simply and drink lots of fluids. Staying home will also keep you from infecting others. However, you need to seek medical consultation when the patient is younger than six months, symptoms are severe, has a weakened immune system or cannot drink fluids or symptoms don’t improve after some days.
HFMD is different from the foot and mouth disease that affects farm animals.
For definitive diagnosis, a sample from the throat or poop is collected and sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Manila.
This disease is found in the saliva of the infected person, or mucus from coughing or sneezing, fluid from the blisters or scab and poop or feces. So this is spread through close contact, coughing and sneezing, contact with poop.
How to prevent HFMD? Avoid close contact with people with HFMD but because this is difficult, we just need to keep our immune system strong, do frequent handwashing if you are in a place with many people like in schools and cover mouth and nose when sneezing. ***
Psalm 136:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.”