hand foot and mouth how long are they contagious for?

[AwayWithTheFaries]

ds had hand and mouth took him to the docs mon said it was impetigo went back tues saw a different doc he said it was hand and mouth he had been on abs since mon its clearing up but its my friends ds's birthday sat shall we go?

anyone?

I found a bit of info on NHS direct when I was worried about an outbreak at DS' nursery. It was a bit vague from what I can remember, but I think it said HF&M lasts for a week or so, but stays contagious in poo for AGES.

TBH I would probably go to the party and not mention it, as long as they are not going to changing each other nappies that is

how funny this should pop up today, I've just been told I have this. I think it's quite unusual for adults to get it!

I think you're contagious for about 12 days. Dr said you would usually keep your child out of playschool of they had it, so I suppose it depends how worried you are. It's not a massive deal from what I can tell, although it's not the nicest thing I've ever had.

It isn't that rare - for all my worries about DS getting it from nursery. He missed out completely and I got it instead .

It wasn't very nice, but not the end of the world.

I'm not sure what happened to my punctuation there, sorry

I didn't manage to pass it on to anyone either and didn't refrain from socialising as I didn't realise what it was at first (am pregnant so feel crappy generally most of the time anyway)

thanks all im taking him to the docs later to check its clearing up ok its been horrid he wants to eat but it hurts and dont even get me started on the lack of sleep!

My two had it recently and apparently it's VERY contagious, so probably avoid the party I think. Not sure why they gave you abs though - it's a virus isn't it, so abs wouldn't have any effect surely?

well they wasnt sure if it was impetigo at first i also took ds to the dentist and the dentist gave him the abs

to anyone who's had it - did you feel like your fingernails had been hit with a hammer? The doctor wasn't to sure if that was anything to do with the HFM or not. It's not bloody nice whatever it is!

My fingers felt all numb - a bit like pins and needles when I tried to touch anything, and the ones on my feet were the worst (esp with all the extra pregnancy weight). They calmed down really quickly though - only lasted 2 days I think.

It is a non-threatening childhood virus, a bit like a cold, which is really contagious before you realise you've got it, so no sense locking yourself away IMHO.