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Foot and Mouth Disease
Pathology
Hand, foot and mouth disease symptoms * Symptoms generally start to appear 3-7 days after becoming infected with the virus; * Initial symptoms are mild fever, tiredness, reduced appetite, and sore throat; * The characteristic features — mouth sores and skin rash — usually develop one or 2 days after the onset of fever; * The rash appears as flat or raised red spots, which may form blisters; * The rash is not itchy, and usually affects the palms of the hands and soles of the feet; * In younger children, especially those still wearing nappies, the rash may also appear on the buttocks; * The mouth sores, which start as small red spots and form painful blisters, often turn into ulcers.
HFM is caused by several members of the enterovirus family of viruses. The most common cause is Coxsackie virus A-16; less frequently enterovirus 71 is the infectious agent. The clinical manifestations of routine HFM are the same regardless of the responsible virus. However, patients infected with enterovirus 71 are more likely to experience rare complications (for example, viral meningitis or cardiac muscle involvement). These viruses remain in the body for weeks after symptoms have gone away, so infected people can pass the disease to others even when they appear well.
The disease spreads easily from person to person, often resulting in outbreaks in schools or child care centres. Outbreaks are most common in summer and early autumn. You can catch the virus from an infected person if you come into contact with their saliva, secretions from their nose or throat (through coughing or sneezing), fluid from blisters, or faeces.
People usually become infected by picking up the virus on their hands from contaminated objects and then placing their hands near