Hand, foot and mouth virus

[Novembergirl]

DS has just been diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth (HFM) virus, which I am fairly certain he caught at his nursery as he is an only child and has not been in contact with other children recently other than at nursery.

As I understand it, the nursery (who have been very good as they noticed that ds had come out in small spots and told us that it was probably HFM) have not had any other reported cases of HFM recently (although there were some Chickenpox cases a few weeks ago), which seems odd. Anyway, we now have to stay away from nursery until the spots dry up (the doctor said this would take around 5 days).

As I am not familar with HFM (although I have now done some reserch on the Internet) I wondered if any other mums have children who have caught the virus? If so, how bad was it, how long did it last and how did your nursery react? Any information will be most appreciated.

[suzywong]

don't worry it's not serious.
My ds1 had this in exactly the same scenario, we kept him away from other kids for the duration. He was a bit under the weather for a couple of days but bounced back pretty quickly. Just be sure to listen to him if he says his mouth hurts or won't take his food as the blisters can be troublesome right in side the mouth.

[nailpolish]

my dd1 had this and it was a nightmare. she couldnt speak, eat or drink for about 5 days. her mouth and tongue were covered in enormous blisters (one ran the length of the side of her tongue) and she could hardly speak.

she lived on ice poles and ice cubes, she couldnt even use a straw.

she couldnt sleep either, we used to watch finding nemo about half a dozen times at 3am!

she had smaller blisters on the palms of her hands and her feet, which didnt really bother her much.

she had been playing with a friend a couple of days before her blisters broke out, and he caught the virus from her, but he had it very mild and just got a few spots/blisters on his feet and hands, his mouth seemed unaffected, so how bad it is can be completely random

dd1 was unable to take calpol, so we bought dissolving disprin and let her sip that, which seemed to take some of the pain away and reduce her slight fever

hth, and good luck, but dont worry too much, hopefully your lo wont have it too bad, and it seems to go away as quick as it can begin

[nailpolish]

ill never forget little dd1 sticking her tongue out and asking me to scratch it for her and kiss it better

[Anchovy]

DS and DD both had this last half term (I'd never heard of it before). They probably got it on the Monday/Tuesday of half term, saw the doctor on the Thursday and DS went back to school as usual on the Monday, so only 5-6 days all in. We had very few if any blisters on hands and feet, but both had very, very sore mouths and ate next to nothing. Not really ill per se, but tired and a bit miserable (probably a lot of that due to not eating). Our remedy was exactly the same as Nailpolish's - repeated viewings of "Finding Nemo".

I think the doctor said they can also get the blisters on their bottoms, although neither of mine noticeably did (didn't go peering for DS, although DD was still in nappies and didn't seem to).

I remember the half term well - children both ill, both the goldfish died and our nanny handed her notice in! Happy days!