If a child has painful blisters in the mouth, a rash on the palms and soles of the feet, as well as nausea and fever, there is a good chance that he or she has hand, foot and mouth disease. What is this, how do you get it and what are the symptoms?
Hand, foot and mouth disease
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a disease that is very similar to foot and mouth disease in cows. The disease is just caused by a different virus. The disease goes away on its own after a few days.
Incubation period
The incubation period is the time between the actual infection and the appearance of the first symptoms. During this time, an infectious disease can already be contagious. For hand, foot and mouth disease, the incubation period is 3 to 5 days.
Phenomena
Common symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease are;
- Painful blisters in the mouth and rash on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet,
- Nausea,
- Fever (not always).
Contamination and consequences
The virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease spreads through the air through droplets of fluid that come from the mouth of the sick child, through coughing or through the feces.
Just go to daycare, playgroup or school
With some infectious diseases, a child is not welcome at a daycare center, playgroup or school for a while because of the high risk of infection. The GGD (Municipal Health Care) has drawn up rules for this. A child with hand, foot and mouth disease can simply come to one of these institutions.
Notification to the GGD is not necessary
For some infectious diseases, a treating physician is obliged to report to the GGD that a child has this infectious disease. Hand, foot and mouth disease does not have to be reported to the GGD.