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adults can contract hand foot mouth as well

HFMD: Parents Can Catch It Too

It first crossed the epidemic threshold of 780 in mid-February 2012. Now, at mid-year (press time), the weekly number of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) cases has more than doubled that.

With such alarming statistics, parents have become ultra-vigilant about keeping their little ones safe, by constantly checking their hands and mouths, and keeping themselves updated on fresh new cases at childcare centres. But while focusing on their children, parents may not realise that they, too, need protection. They cannot assume that they are safe from HFMD. The reality is that adults and youth over the age of 15 account for about one in 10 of the HFMD cases here. In most instances, parents catch it from their children who have got the disease.

The usual symptoms of HFMD

Dr Ng Chung Wai, Consultant Family Physician, SingHealth Polyclinics (Outram), and Chairman, SingHealth Polyclinics Infectious Diseases and Infection Control Committee, said: "The symptoms of HFMD in children are similar to those in adults. The rash typically consists of red bumps and blisters which affect the palms and/or soles. In some cases, the rash may be just red spots or bumps without blisters, and may also appear on the buttocks, knees or elbows."

Other symptoms include fever, ulcers in the throat and mouth and on the tongue, sore throat, loss of appetite as well as a general feeling of being unwell.

HFMD is endemic in Singapore, which means it can occur all year round.

Parents And Doctors Worried About New Strain Of Hand, Foot And Mouth Virus

According to dermatologists at John Hopkins Children's Center, parents and pediatricians are worried about a new strain of hand foot and mouth virus.

But most cases are mild, short-lived, Johns Hopkins Children's Center dermatologists say

Your child goes to bed in perfect health. The next morning she wakes up with high fever, malaise and bright red blisters erupting all over her body. Johns Hopkins Children's Center dermatologists say the disturbing scenario has become quite common in the last few months, sending scared parents to their pediatrician's office or straight to the emergency room.

Bernard Cohen, M.D., director of pediatric dermatology at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, and colleague Kate Puttgen, M.D., have seen or consulted on close to 50 such cases in the last few months and have received countless phone calls from scared parents and concerned physicians. Cohen believes this number may be just the tip of the iceberg with primary care pediatricians seeing the bulk of new cases.

Cohen and Puttgen want to reassure parents that most cases of the disease are benign and that nearly all patients recover in seven to 10 days without treatment and without serious complications.

"What we are seeing is relatively common viral illness called hand-foot-and-mouth disease but with a new twist," Cohen says.

The culprit is an unusual strain of the common coxsackie virus that usually causes the disease. The new strain, coxsackie A6, previously found only in Africa and Asia, is now cropping up all over the United States.

The coxsackie virus strikes infants and children under age 5 in the summer and autumn months. Symptoms include fever and malaise and, a day or two later, a non-itchy skin rash with flat or raised red spots on the hands and feet and/or mouth sores.