Question
The patient is seven years old and shows symptoms of poor spirits, fever, blisters on the buttocks and feet, and a sore throat. The illness has been present for four days. The patient received one day of intravenous treatment before and had a low blood count. The doctor diagnosed it as viral blisters. How severe is Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease?
Answer
Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is an infectious disease caused by enteroviruses, primarily affecting children under the age of 5. Common symptoms include small blisters or red macules appearing in the oral cavity, cheeks, tongue, soft palate, hard palate, inside of the lips, palm of the hands and feet, elbows, knees, buttocks, and perineum. In terms of diagnosis, Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease can sometimes be confused with other diseases, but its characteristic rash is often described as “four not like”: not like mosquito bites, not like drug rash, not like aphthous stomatitis, not like chickenpox.