Child Health and Diseases Specialist Doctor Hasan Çetinkaya warned families about hand, foot and mouth disease, which is a common and contagious disease in children. Providing important information about the symptoms, ways of transmission and prevention methods of this disease, which increases especially in autumn and winter months, Çetinkaya stated that if a child is infected, the symptoms of the disease appear within 3 to 5 days and added: “This disease is a disease that can usually heal on its own within 7 to 10 days.” However, very rarely, it can cause serious conditions such as brain infection, infections such as meningitis, and heart attack (myocarditis). For this reason, he said it is a disease that should be taken seriously.
“IT MOST AFFECTS CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS OLD”
Stating that this disease causes epidemics especially in summer and autumn months, Çetinkaya said, “It can be transmitted from hotels and public living areas such as pools during the summer period. It is a disease that is frequently mentioned in public areas such as schools and nurseries in the autumn. This disease is a viral infection and can cause small punctate wounds mostly on the hands, feet, and gluteal region. It is a disease that can cause nutritional problems by causing painful sores in the mouth. Since it is a virus infection, there is a risk of transmission, so it is a disease that our children in school and kindergarten should be careful about.
It can usually be transmitted from one child to another through the child’s feces or respiratory secretions, that is, coughs and sneezes. We observe that children under the age of 5 are more affected by this disease. This disease is more common in nursery and primary school children. If another child is infected, symptoms of the disease appear within 3 to 5 days. A mild fever is expected after infection.
Small wounds in the gluteal region on the hands and feet are not very painful, but continue with a slight itch. Sores in the mouth can cause some children to have feeding problems and dehydration. “We can provide fluid therapy and fluid supplementation to such patients in hospitals,” he said.
“THE MOST IMPORTANT WAY OF PROTECTION IS HYGIENE”
Çetinkaya warned that this self-healing disease should not be underestimated and said, “Although this disease is a disease that can usually heal on its own within 7 to 10 days, it can very rarely cause serious conditions such as brain infection, infections such as meningitis, and myocarditis.” . Therefore, it is a disease that should be taken seriously.
If the child has hand-foot disease, he/she should not attend school or nursery for 7 to 10 days. There is a greater chance of infecting someone else with this disease in the first 7 to 10 days. In this disease, the virus attack continues for 3-4 weeks through breathing, coughing and sneezing. Since the virus spread through the child’s feces continues for 4-6 weeks, caution is required in terms of transmission in the first weeks. One of the most important ways to protect our children from this disease in nursery or school is to pay attention to hand hygiene. Children should disinfect and wash their hands after leaving the sink.
It is very important to wash hands before meals and frequently disinfect common items in the school environment. Although this disease is a self-healing disease, people who recover from the disease may experience peeling on their fingers, hands and feet, although this is not the case in everyone. Rarely, nail loss may occur 1-2 months after the disease. “Some families bring their children with falling out nails to us, and after doing our tests, we find out that these children have previously had hand-foot disease,” he said.
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