Foot and mouth hand disease is a contagious viral infection that causes blisters on the mouth and red spots on the hands and feet. Blisters in the mouth that resemble canker sores are painful to make eating, drinking, and swallowing difficult.
After there is canker sores, red spots will be seen on the skin, especially on the fingers, palms and back of the hands, and feet. Sometimes the red spots also appear on the buttocks and groin. The red spots can turn into small blisters and sometimes feel very itchy and uncomfortable.
Diseases that affect many children under the age of 5 are caused by enteroviruses, and are transmitted through coughing, sneezing, or through feces infected by the virus and by mouth.
Although it can cause uncomfortable symptoms, this leg and mouth hand disease will normally heal itself in 7 to 10 days, so the treatment given is only supportive to relieve symptoms.
Foot and mouth hand disease itself had become an outbreak in the Asian region, especially Singapore. In 2014, more than half of Singaporeans suffered from this disease. Whereas in other countries such as Vietnam, there were 46,388 cases of mouth and foot hand disease until 2016. Unfortunately, the incidence of this disease is still not recorded in Indonesia.
Symptoms of Hand and Foot Disease
Symptoms of foot disease generally appear only 3 to 5 days after exposure to viral infections. The initial symptoms can be:
- Fever (usually around 38-39 degrees Celsius).
- Thrush in the mouth and sore throat.
- Abdominal pain.
- Cough.
- Tired and lethargic.
- Decreased appetite
- Fussy (in children)
- Red and blisterous lesions on the tongue, gums and inner cheeks.
- Red spots do not itch on the palms, soles of the feet, and sometimes on the buttocks.
- Hand and mouth disease is actually a mild condition. However, it is recommended to see a doctor for help if:
A fever with a temperature of ≥38 degrees Celsius in a patient under three months of age or a fever with a temperature of ≥39 degrees Celsius in a patient under the age of six months.
The skin feels very painful, hot, red and swollen, and expels pus.
Patients cannot or do not want to drink.
There are signs of dehydration, such as no response, little or no urine, and cold hands and feet.
If the patient experiences seizures, weakness or loss of consciousness.
When symptoms get worse and don't improve after seven to ten days.
Causes of Foot and Mouth Hand Disease
The main cause of foot and mouth hand disease is the coxsackie A16 virus from the nonpolio enterovirus group. A person can contract the virus when exposed to the saliva, snot, and phlegm of the patient, as well as the droplets of saliva they remove when sneezing or coughing. In addition, feces and fluids from blisters on the skin can also be intermediaries for the transmission of this virus. Generally the coxsackie virus enters through the digestive tract.
Viruses in the patient's body will easily spread to others during the first week of illness. Even so, the virus can still be present in the patient's body for weeks after symptoms disappear so that it can still transmit the disease to others. Most cases of foot and mouth hand disease are classified as mild and can heal on their own within seven to ten days.
Diagnosis of Hand and Foot Disease
Diagnosis of foot and mouth hand disease can be identified through physical examination taking into account the patient's age, pattern of signs and symptoms experienced, and the presence of spots or blisters. In addition, doctors can also swab the throat or take stool specimens for analysis to determine the virus that causes the disease.
Treatment of Hand and Foot Disease
Foot and mouth hand disease usually does not require special care. To help relieve symptoms experienced by sufferers, several things can be done, such as:
- Provide plenty of drinking to avoid dehydration.
- Giving thrush medication in the form of mouthwash or ointment to reduce the severity of the symptoms.
- Give cold drinks, including ice cream to help reduce pain due to blisters in the mouth.
- Do not provide food or drinks that taste sour or spicy, because it can aggravate the pain.
- Providing soft foods that do not need to be chewed and easy to swallow.
- Suggest the patient to rinse with warm water after eating. If you can gargle without swallowing, suggest that they rinse with warm water mixed with salt to relieve pain and swelling.
- If there is still pain and fever, give over-the-counter acetaminophen or ibuprofen medication. Be careful when using drugs and follow the instructions on the packaging.
Complications of Hand Feet and Mouth Disease
What you need to look out for for foot and mouth hand disease is the occurrence of dehydration, because the sufferer has difficulty eating or drinking due to canker sores. Serious complications such as encephalitis and meningitis rarely occur.
Prevention of Foot and Mouth Hand Disease
Some of the efforts that we can do to avoid transmission of foot and mouth hand disease are:
- As much as possible do not do activities outside the home first (such as going to school or work) until the condition is fully cured.
- Use a tissue or handkerchief to cover your mouth and nose when we cough and sneeze.
- Get used to washing hands with water and soap, especially after using the toilet, coughing, sneezing, changing diapers, or before preparing food.
- Do not share the use of eating or drinking equipment, towels, clothes, or cooking utensils with sufferers.
- Washing suspected bed linen or cloth.
- Forbid children from sharing toys or kissing others when they are infected.
- Teach children to always maintain personal hygiene and apply other hygiene behaviors.
- Clean the surface of public facilities from germs with a mixture of bleach and water.