Pediatric Health and Diseases Specialist Doctor Hasan Çetinkaya warned that hand and foot disease seen in children should be taken into consideration.
Sivas Medicana Hospital Pediatrics Specialist Doctor Hasan Çetinkaya warned families about hand foot and mouth disease, which is a common and contagious disease in children. Giving important information about the symptoms, transmission routes and prevention methods of this disease, which increases especially in autumn and winter months, Çetinkaya stated that if a child is infected, the symptoms of the disease appear within 3 to 5 days and said, “Although this disease is a disease that can usually heal spontaneously within 7 to 10 days, it can rarely cause serious conditions such as brain infection, infections such as meningitis, heart infection (myocarditis). Therefore, it is a disease that should be taken into consideration.
“It affects children younger than 5 years old more”
Saying that this disease is especially epidemic in summer and fall, Çetinkaya said, “In the summer period, it can be transmitted from collective living areas such as hotels and pools. In the fall, it is a disease that can frequently make a name for itself in collective living areas such as schools and kindergartens. This disease is a viral infection and can cause small punctate sores mostly on the hands, feet and gluteal region. It can also cause painful sores in the mouth and lead to nutritional problems. Since it is a virus infection, there is a risk of transmission, so it is a disease that our children in school and kindergarten period should pay attention to. It can usually be transmitted from one child to another through the child's stool or respiratory secretions, i.e. coughs and sneezes. We observe that children under the age of 5 are more affected by this disease. This disease is more common in kindergarten and primary school children. If another child is infected, symptoms appear within 3 to 5 days. A mild fever is expected after infection. Small sores in the gluteal region on the hands and feet are not very painful, but continue with a slight itching. Sores in the mouth can cause some children to have nutritional problems and dehydration. We can provide fluid supplementation to such patients with serum therapy in hospitals.”
“Hygiene is the most important way to protect”
Çetinkaya warned that this self-healing disease should not be underestimated and said, “Although this disease is usually a disease that can heal spontaneously within 7 to 10 days, it can very rarely cause serious conditions such as brain infection, infections such as meningitis, heart infection (myocarditis). Therefore, it is a disease that should be taken seriously. If the child has hand and foot disease, he/she should not attend school or kindergarten for 7 to 10 days. In the first 7 to 10 days, it is more likely to be transmitted to another person. In this disease, the virus continues to move for 3-4 weeks through cough and sneeze through respiration. Since the virus continues for 4-6 weeks through the child's feces, care should be taken in terms of transmission in the first weeks. One of the most important ways to protect our children from this disease in kindergarten or school is to pay attention to hand hygiene. Children should disinfect and wash their hands after coming out of the sink. It is very important to wash hands before meals and to disinfect common items in the school environment frequently. Although this disease is a self-healing disease, people who overcome the disease may develop peeling on their fingers, hands and feet, although not everyone. Nail loss can rarely be seen 1-2 months after the disease. Some families bring us their children whose nails fall off and after we do our analyzes, we come across that these children have had hand and foot disease before.”
İHA Haber Kodu: 20241104AW321991
