CHILDREN’S HEALTH Older children and adults may breeze through a bout of hand, foot and mouth disease with few, if any, symptoms. What is it? Hand, foot and mouth disease is also known as coxsackie virus infections. The disease is very common in childhood and is easy to identify by its telltale mouth sores and rash on the feet and hands. It is caused by an enterovirus, which is extremely common; in fact they are second only to common cold viruses. Hand, foot, and mouth disease spreads through contact with an infected person, or through contact with the secretions of an infected person. Most hand, foot and mouth disease infections are not serious and resolve themselves with little or no treatment in about a week to ten days. Severe hand, foot, and mouth disease can lead to meningitis, but this is very rare. Prevention Like any virus, hand, foot and mouth disease is best prevented through proper hygiene by teaching kids to wash their hands with soap and water. Avoid exposure to other children who have the virus and notify your child’s school or childcare centre if your child is diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease to avoid spreading the virus to other children. Hand, foot and mouth disease tends to spread quickly in childcare situations. Symptoms Older children and adults may breeze through a bout of hand, foot and mouth disease with few, if any, symptoms. The virus is most common in children under ten. Children who contract hand, foot and mouth disease may display some or all of the following symptoms: • Fever • Mouth sores that turn into ulcers • Rash on the soles of the feet and palms of the hand • Sore throat • Joint pain • Headache • Children wearing nappies may also experience the rash on their bottom Treatment For the most part, you don’t need to do anything if your child has hand, foot and mouth disease, other than make him comfortable and avoid spreading the virus to other children. Keep him home from school or child care until the blisters heal over. You can give him paracetamol for the fever or minor aches that may accompany the virus. Make sure that he gets lots of rest and fluids. Call the doctor if your child experiences an unusually high fever, or has joint pain and/or bad headaches. These may be signs that his illness needs medical treatment. Health Outcome Viral diarrhoea is very infectious and can rapidly spread to other young children. Therefore, a child with diarrhoea should be excluded from any childcare facility until there has not been a loose bowel motion for 24 hours and the child is well. Any parents or carers experiencing vomiting or diarrhoea and who are likely to handle food in the facility should also be excluded until they have not had any vomiting or diarrhoea for 48 hours. If there are more than two cases with loose bowel motions in the same childcare facility, the nearest Population Health Unit should be notified. Prevention There are no specific treatments/vaccinations to prevent infection with the organisms that commonly cause diarrhoea in Queensland. The most important means of prevention is to ensure that food is properly stored, prepared and cooked and to maintain good hygiene standards. With any type of diarrhoea it is crucial that: • Parents and carers wash their hands thoroughly after changing infants’ nappies, after supervising children at the toilet, after going to the toilet themselves, and before preparing or handling food. • Children should also wash their hands after going to the toilet and before eating. • Babies’ bottles should be cleaned and sterilised. • Meat products should be cooked well and raw meat should not be given to young children. • Raw meat and chicken should be stored in a covered container at the bottom of the fridge and meat juices should not contaminate other food. Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease pindaramagazine.com.au
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue One
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