Question

A one-and-a-half-year-old child has reduced appetite but is in good spirits. Initially, the sleep was normal, but recently the child has become irritable and prone to anger. Stool was slightly sticky at first but has now returned to normal. There are no symptoms of fever or runny nose, and no small blisters have appeared on the feet or body. How should it be handled?

Answer

There is currently no specific effective treatment for hand, foot, and mouth disease, but the following measures can be taken to alleviate symptoms:

  1. Use antiviral drugs such as virazole or viraxin.
  2. Keep the affected areas clean to prevent secondary bacterial infection.
  3. If there is ulceration in the mouth causing difficulty in eating, provide easily digestible liquid foods and rinse the mouth after meals.
  4. Regionally, apply gold-thioglucose fish liver oil to reduce pain and promote healing of the ulcerated areas.