Hand foot and mouth

[Frrrightattendant]

Hello, hope someone can advise a bit on this, I've done a search but can't find the info I need.

Ds1 (6yo) started with high temp on Thursday evening, better yesterday but his throat was sore and also he has a blister on his tongue which is really painful.
Today he also has spotty blistery things on his feet, hands and knees. So pretty sure this is what it is.

He's moaning a lot, can't eat apart from ice cream (yay) and I've been applying dentinox to tongue and have given him some antihistamine in case it helps.

Ds2 (2yo) has had very high temp all night and so far all day, controlled by nurofen (and sponsored by volkswagen)

So obviously he is going to get it too.

My questions are as follows:

1. How long roughly does it last, and when can ds1 go back to school?

1. How is it transmitted - ie can we go on walks/into shops as long as they don't touch anything? (obviously this would be minimal but am on my own, so no DH to send out for milk etc - but I could leave them in the car)

1. Am I going to get it!!! (we are in trouble if so!)

1. erm - that's it I think.

Thankyou

Well they say it's quite contagious but when ds1 had it nobody else in the family got it.

Oh yes, and the Out of hours nurse on the phone (lady was called Denise, I thought she said 'hello this is the police') told me to wipe everything he touches with an antibacterial wipe.

This is clearly impossible, as well as pointless due to it being a viral infection? Anyway she said no antivirals for ds2 as it is usually mild.

Fair enough he doesn't have eczema or anything that would make it dangerous for him, but it's not pleasant and he's had symptoms less than 24 hours so am a bit miffed. I don't want him to suffer unnecessarily.

Oh thanks Ledodgy, well glad you didn't catch it!

It can be a nasty illness, but not everyone who gets it will even notice that they have it, as it can be very mild. I know one adult who had it, it didn't bother her that much, and it's very unusual for adults to have it.

I would just give him paracetamol and ibuprofen for the pain and the temperature, plenty of ice lollies to eat.

It's one of those illness that can contagious before the spots appear, and can remain contagious for a little while afterwards, but as many people won't even know they have it, it's not really practical to be in 'quarantine' as I was told by my doctor.

The illness itself lasts a bit less then a week usually.

Belgo once again you come to my rescue

Thankyou very much indeed.

I feel slightly reassured! Was envisioning total isolation for all of us for weeks!

He's meant to be at school on Monday but will see if blisters have healed by then.

Meanwhile I shan't take them to playground etc etc obviously, and will try and avoid other places like shops.

hi frrrightattendant my 3 year old nephew had it but noone else caught it. he had it for 7 days but had to be treated with antivirals as the blisters on his tounge were starting to bleed. he also had to use glyceron to heal it

Once the temperature has gone and he's feeling better in himself, it's fine to let him go back to school.

It's one of those illnesses that it's better to catch it as a child,and complications are very rare, but I know the mouth ulcers in particular can be very painful, so just keep an eye on them, which you are doing anyway.

Just to warn you, he could have it again in the future as it's caused a a couple of different virues.

My dd1 had a nasty case of it just like your ds, but dd2 only had it on her hands and I didn't even notice for a few days.

If you need to go to the shops, maybe put gloves on him?

Fright - I think both you and I are just very interested in all things medical, and want to have a good understanding of these sorts of things

Thankyou both

It's getting very tricky here, ds1 is miserable, won't eat, ds2 is also miserable and his temp is now 38.3 again with 4 hours till nurofen. I am going to give him some calpol now.

Feeling awful myself but is probably just the stress of it all, haven't had much sleep lately! I read that in rare cases it can cause inflammation of the heart, brain etc, which isn't very reassuring because I had a friend who got some virus at 15, it went to his heart and he had to have a transplant and died a few years later

argh

Think I had it but no fever and only a mild sore throat but the blisters on my feet and hands were quite uncomfortable. Couldn't see any sign of it on DD 11 months. Also read there was no need to quarantine so you should be ok once they start feeling better.