Question
What are the symptoms of hand, foot, and mouth disease?
Answer
Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a contagious illness primarily affecting children, also known as eruptive vesicular stomatitis. After infection with enterovirus, children usually present with fever, generally around 38°C. The oral mucosa may appear with scattered vesicles, about the size of rice grains, which are very painful. Mild patients may have early symptoms such as coughing, runny nose, and drooling, similar to upper respiratory tract infections. Some children may have nausea or vomiting. One to two days after the onset of fever, rashes may appear on the hands, feet, and buttocks, or vesicles on the oral mucosa. Some children may not have fever but only present with rashes on the hands, feet, and buttocks or pharyngitis with vesicles; the condition is usually mild.