All About Hand Foot Mouth Disease
What is Hand, Foot and Mouth disease?
Hand, foot and mouth is a viral disease that causes sores to occur on the body. The disease was caused by a virus genus called Enterovirus (EV71, Coxsackie virus)
These sores can potentially be quite painful and are commonly found on and around the mouth, hands, arms, feet, legs and rear end.
The disease is primarily spread through the air via sneezes and coughs, through contact with blister fluid, or infected surfaces, and can also be easily spread through a person’s stool, which is generally more of an issue when dealing with children.
After a person is infected, there is an incubation period of three to six days before symptoms arise.
An infected individual is most contagious during the first week of having the disease.
Beyond the sores, which are more noticeable, other symptoms of hand, foot and mouth include:
Fatigue or malaise
Irritation
Vomiting
Reduced appetite
Sore throat
Fever (usually between 38 and 39 degrees Celsius)
Rash
Blisters
Dehydration
Some notes to add to this are that sores and blisters generally end about a week after they develop.
Additionally, some people that become infected with hand, foot and mouth disease will never show symptoms, or symptoms will be very mild, but they can still transmit the disease to others all the same.
As far as worst case scenarios are concerned, while rare, hand, foot and mouth disease can lead to damage of the heart, lungs or brain.
How is Hand, Foot and Mouth disease affecting Worldwide?
There are active HFMD clusters happening right now!
2016 was actually one of the biggest years on record for hand, foot and mouth disease worldwide. Millions of cases reported and thousands of death annually. Even now, in the first quarter of 2017 alone, there were higher numbers reported in the 2016.
Prevention and treatment
Children are generally the primary concern when it comes to hand, foot and mouth disease. This is especially true for those under the age of 8, as they are the most at risk for infection. As such, parents should be proactive about keeping children home from school when they have symptoms, so as not to infect other children.
After all, hand, foot and mouth outbreaks are usually contained to a specific community, such as a school or daycare. Adequate time should also be taken to ensure that the infected person is not putting others at risk when they return to public life.
There is no vaccine or medicinal treatment for hand, foot and mouth, so prevention is the only way to avoid infection.
Practical measures should be taken to reduce the spread of infection. Be sure to clean often touched surfaces regularly, avoid close touching as much as possible, and both of the infected person and anyone taking care of them should be sure to wash their hands frequently.
Keep your child hydrated to help their body battle fever, and ease pain from a sore throat.
Avoid spicy or highly acidic foods to avoid irritating sores.
Over the counter drugs such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen can be used to reduce pain and fever.
Mouth pain can be reduced using appropriate mouthwashes or other sprays or ointments.
THYMOS Can Help
Prevention is key! THYMOS® Anti HFMD/FLU Spray™ is clinically proven to eliminate 99.99% of EnteroViruses and delivers 10days long-lasting protections. Without Toxic Chemicals or alcohol, making it the best available solution for parents.
THYMOS® with it's patented Self-Sanitising technology™ generates powerful bacteriostatic electrons to form an invisible, colourless, odourless shield on treated surfaces and instantly destroys the plasma membrane of pathogens while ensuring safe skin contact for users - from toddlers to adults.
The sprays a quick, yet 10days long-lasting solution to contaminated surfaces. That’s part of what makes it perfect for our modern time. The spray comes in a travel-size tube and can fit easily in your purse or in your desk drawer & forget about repeated sanitising to ensure the surrounding of your little one is free from infectious disease.
