Showing posts with label kids healthcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids healthcare. Show all posts

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD)- What Is It?

Protecting kids from the illnesses and injuries is very important. As a parent, you need to be very careful because there are so many diseases which develop as they grow. There are so many illnesses which remain unnoticed. 

Such illnesses can be easily treated at urgent care for kids. In this blog, we will discuss hand, foot and mouth disease that generally affects kids. It is often named as HFMD.



What is hand, foot and mouth disease?

The hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a highly transmittable virus that generally affects kids and infants having an age of 5 years or less than this. It can be passed from the children to adults who work or live with the kids.

Symptoms & causes of the HFMD-

The hand foot and mouth disease starts with a cold or flu. Sometimes, the initial symptom of this disease can be a sore throat. After that small blisters develop on the hands, mouth, face, or on feet. The blisters occur on the whole body within 2-4 days. 

This is called the incubation period. A kid may experience a mild to high fever depending on the severity of the virus. Further, a child may experience shedding of affected skin, loss of fingernails and even loss of hair. It is noticed that this problem is faced by the kids who live in daycare, child care settings, or in schools, etc. 

The main cause of this disease is a virus named as Enterovirus. This disease can be transferred from one to another with the infected person's saliva, coughing, sneezing, and fluid produced from the blisters or feces.

How to treat this disease?

To limit this disease you must check the diet of the kid. Below are some of the instructions that you can follow-
  • The best way to care for an infected kid is to ensure he/she is drinking enough fluids because dehydration is a big issue that plays an important role in Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease in kids.
  • Increase the intake of milk and yogurt.
  • Restrict the intake of juices because the acidic content could irritate the sores.
  • Avoid the hot or spicy foods and must avoid the chilled or cold food items such as ice cream. Cereals are also simple to eat and also work for the severe cold.

Unfortunately, there is limited medicine or vaccination that can cure this disease. The doctor at urgent care for kids can recommend immediate medication to your kid for fever or for sores.