Question
A four-year-old girl developed severe canker sores two days ago, suffering from hand, foot, and mouth disease. After her afternoon nap yesterday, her body temperature rose to 38.5 degrees Celsius. After receiving intravenous treatment, she cooled down. This morning, she received another round of intravenous treatment, and after sleeping from 4 to 6 PM, her temperature rose again to 38.5 degrees Celsius, accompanied by a headache. Doctor, is this symptom indicative of encephalitis or meningitis?
Answer
Hand, foot, and mouth disease is characterized by oral mucosal rashes, usually presenting as scattered blisters or ulcers, commonly found in the oropharynx, tongue, lips, and mucous membranes, which may cause oral pain. Hand, foot, and mouth disease primarily manifests as maculopapular rashes and blisters on the hands, feet, and oral mucous membranes. In contrast, canker sores only occur inside the mouth, such as on the gums, cheek mucosa, tongue, and palate, appearing as individual or clustered small blisters that break open to form small ulcers. Sometimes they can merge into larger ulcers but do not appear on other parts of the mouth outside of the oral cavity. Therefore, canker sores do not lead to hand, foot, and mouth disease.