Is hand, foot and mouth disease contagious? By which way?

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor II Le Thanh Cam - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology, Vinmec Da Nang International General Hospital.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is one of the most common infectious diseases in children. This is a concern of many parents because the symptoms of the disease are diverse and can cause serious complications. Understanding hand, foot and mouth disease is essential to protect your baby's health.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is an infectious disease caused by a virus. There are two main types of viruses that cause disease: Coxsackievirus and Enterovirus. Each virus has different epidemiological characteristics, distribution of influence mainly by region and different year. This is an infectious disease that can spread into an epidemic. In general, the year when hand, foot and mouth disease occurs with the dominant Enterovirus strain, there will be more severe complications.

The most common subjects of the disease are children under 3 years of age. At this stage, children begin to learn to crawl, crawl, walk, learn to eat solids, ... so they have a lot of contact with the surrounding environment. When it comes time to go to kindergarten, children live with children of their age, the risk of infection is more favorable. This is the condition causing the outbreak of hand foot and mouth disease recorded every year. In infants under 6 months of age who are still breastfed, receive disease-fighting antibodies from their mothers and older children over 5 years of age, have a relatively complete immune system development, and the possibility of disease decreases.
Hand, foot and mouth disease in children is reported to occur all year round. However, two time points from February to April and from September to December were observed with a much higher frequency of disease, many outbreaks, and many cases with severe complications.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is transmitted mainly through the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract. Disease-causing viruses exist in saliva, sneeze, runny nose, feces, blister fluid on the skin, mucous membranes, ... Pathogenesis of these virus strains causes the body to increase secretion of secretions when sick. Children sneezing, runny nose, sucking on toys together are favorable transmission routes. When released, the virus can still survive for a long time in a room temperature environment, clinging to utensils, toys, floors, cups, towels, and clothes. If a healthy child is exposed to this environment, it is very easy to get infected.
However, hand, foot and mouth disease doesn't just affect children. There are still reports of adults getting hand, foot and mouth disease from infected children while caring for and cleaning children.

As the name suggests, hand, foot and mouth disease manifests mainly on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet and in the mouth, mucous membranes of the tongue, cheeks, and throat. At first, the baby will develop small blisters. Then the blisters burst, draining clear fluid; If the fluid is cloudy, there may be an infection. Lesions on the skin and mucous membranes cause irritability, irritability, fussiness, and poor feeding. Sometimes children have fever, symptoms similar to respiratory viruses such as cough, runny nose, sneezing or on the gastrointestinal tract such as digestive disorders, vomiting and loose diarrhea. At this stage, the baby can be treated at home by the doctor, taking fever-reducing medicine, feeding more milk and water, taking care of the blisters and instructing to watch for signs of movement.
When hand, foot and mouth disease progressed, the mother observed that the child had a high fever continuously, it was difficult to lower the fever, appeared lethargic, lethargic, staggered, stopped feeding and slept a lot, jerking limbs while sleeping. These are signs that suggest the disease has damage to the central nervous system. These cases require hospitalization for medical examination. When the child shows signs of shock, low blood pressure, skin rash, and lethargy, it is a critical stage, it is necessary to isolate for active treatment for the child and evaluate the progress every hour in the emergency room. The risk of serious complications, even death, is very high.
>>> Guidelines for taking care of children with hand, foot and mouth disease.

Currently, there is no specific treatment as well as preventive vaccine for hand, foot and mouth disease. The main treatment is to improve the general condition and relieve symptoms. Therefore, prevention for children as well as all family members plays an extremely important role. The way to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease is nothing more effective than keeping clean and starting from the simplest actions. Specifically:
Teach children the habit of regularly washing their hands with antibacterial soap under clean running water before eating, after going to the toilet or when adults clean them. Bath and change clothes for children every day.

Eat clean and safe processed food, drink cooled boiled water. Teach children not to put their hands in their mouths or suck on toys. Children's items such as towels, clothes, dishes as well as learning tools, children's toys should be soaked with disinfectant solution and dried in the sun. Tables and chairs, floors, handrails, stairs, doorknobs, especially at babysitting points need to be cleaned and disinfected periodically with antiseptic water, similar to toilets and sewers. In addition, parents or caregivers need to actively observe the health status of children every day. When a child becomes ill, it is necessary to quickly report for isolation and disinfection to minimize the spread to other children, forming an outbreak. For suspected cases, children should be taken to medical centers soon for examination and monitoring. It can be said that hand, foot and mouth disease is a common infectious disease in children. The risk of epidemic is very high if not recognized early and actively controlled. Building the habit of keeping personal hygiene and the surrounding environment is an effective measure to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease in general, and other infectious diseases in particular.

Source: Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health)