HFMD - how long should we isolate?

[Luellie]

My nearly 1yo has picked up hand foot and mouth, and I seem to have got it now too.

A few questions...

1. We've cancelled play dates and baby groups etc, but I was wondering how long people thought it was necessary to do this for? I'm seeing so much contradictory info online, especially with some people saying the blisters aren't contagious and other sites saying they are.

I understand there's no requirement to keep children off nursery or school with hfmd, but I feel that's slightly different as the infected child has already mixed whilst contagious by the time they've got symptoms, and presumably parents have to work. Neither of those apply in our situation - I wouldn't want to infect someone just because we fancied a day out.

1. My second question is how extreme do we have to go with the isolation? We'd already spent most of the previous week at home due to an awful cold that wiped us out. We're going stir crazy! I'm a bit confused about how contagious it is or how it's passed on - obviously the baby groups etc will be a no-go, but should we avoid the supermarket for example? The woods? Or should we really just stay at home completely?

1. It's his first birthday next week. We're skint so all we had planned was that my son, husband, and I would go to build a bear to get one of the count your candles bears for £1. Then go for lunch somewhere that I have Clubcard vouchers for. This would be day 8 after my son's symptoms started, day 7 after mine started. Should we go ahead as planned or come up with something else? It's build a bear that I'm most worried about as there will obviously be children there, though it will be a weekday morning so hopefully not too busy.

1. This one's just to make me feel better... anyone here caught hfmd as an adult and didn't get the blisters?! I've just had two days of feeling really ill, body aches and feeling totally wiped out with a sore throat and a cough. No blisters yet - is it silly to hope that I escape blister-less?! 😭🙏

Thanks everyone - I did ask my GP but she just said that no one would catch it from him so don't worry. I just wasn't totally convinced by that... especially as I caught it from him so I know it's possible! As you can tell though I'm quite clueless, and everything I've read online seems to contradict everything else so I just don't know what to do, and I just would hate to pass this grim illness on!

www.nhs.uk/conditions/hand-foot-mouth-disease/

Says most likely to pass it on in 1st 5 days. Go to the supermarket, get fresh air. No need to isolate at home

Honestly it's up to you, I'd treat it like any other contagious viral illness, which it is. So whatever you normally do, do that. My DD had HFM 3 times between the ages of about 10 months and 18 months. DS is 13m has either just had it or still has it (we aren't sure and neither is the GP, he's gone from one set of symptoms to another almost back-to-back for the last couple of weeks) for the first time. I don't take my children out on social visits if they're feeling poorly basically. If they're well enough in themselves then I will take them. Unless it's a specific illness where the advice is not to take them to x places for X amount of time then wed follow the NHS advice on that like, thinking of things like chickenpox for example.

My DC and I had it but we never had the blisters (just absolutely wiped out with painful joints, tiredness etc). My sister, however, caught it from my DV and had blisters all over her hands and feet. I would think by Day 7/8 you should be ok, especially if you didn’t get the blisters. Just give other people a wide berth, keep hands sanitised and go on out (and happy 1st birthday to your DS!)

Thank you everyone. We did go out to get the bear in the end, but we made sure me and DS didn't touch anything or anyone. My husband never caught it from us, so he just had to do everything 😁

PS. I did not escape blister-less, sadly 😭 my mouth is full of ulcers. I have painful red bumps on my hands and feet, but they've not exactly blistered over as such or broken the skin at all and they seem to be going away now, so hopefully that's it.

I also have some fetching spots on my face, but these didn't hurt at all unlike the spots on my hands and feet, so I'm not sure what's going on there. But the spots on my sons face seemed very different to the blisters on his hands and feet too, so that makes sense I suppose.