Signs of hand, foot and mouth disease: Understand to not regret

In the early stages, hand, foot and mouth disease has flu-like symptoms. Therefore, if you do not understand the first signs of hand, foot and mouth, these symptoms are easy to ignore and can lead to many dangerous complications. 

Summer is also a time of outbreaks of many diseases in young children, especially hand, foot and mouth. Hand, foot and mouth disease is highly contagious, characterized by mouth ulcers and rashes on the hands and feet. Currently, this disease does not have a cure or a preventive vaccine. Therefore, parents need to understand the first signs of hand, foot and mouth in order to have appropriate care, to limit the risk of children experiencing complications. For some more useful information about this disease, please join aFamilyToday Health to continue to share below.

First hand, foot and mouth signs that you need to be aware of

Hand, foot and mouth disease is an infection caused by the coxsackievirus A16 and enterovirus 71 viruses. With coxsackievirus A16 virus cases, the disease is usually mild and recovers itself after 7-10 days with few complications.

However, if the cause is enterovirus 71, it can progress to meningitis and encephalitis . More seriously, some cases may also experience neurological, cardiovascular and respiratory complications, which can even lead to death.

The viruses that cause hand, foot and mouth disease live mainly in the digestive tract. They are at risk of spreading from person to person through direct contact with nasopharyngeal secretions, saliva, fluid from the bladder or the feces of an infected person. How soon symptoms begin to appear after infection is a concern for many people. According to doctors, the usual incubation period is from 3 to 7 days. Some of the most visible initial signs of hand, foot and mouth:

Mild or severe fever that lasts 24 to 48 hours

Sore throat

Tired

Anorexia

Irritated crying

Diarrhea… 

From 1 to 2 days after the fever, painful sores will appear in the oral cavity, especially on the tongue, gums, and inside the cheeks. Initially, they are just red blisters, which will then rupture and develop into ulcers. Along with the appearance of ulcers is a rash on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, buttocks or around the anus. These rashes are mostly non-itchy, but are flat or raised red lesions, some of which may be accompanied by blisters.

In addition to these symptoms, your child may also experience some more severe symptoms, such as:

Persistent crying , lasting throughout the night. This can be a warning sign of a child with neurotoxicity at a very early stage.

Non-lowering high fever : fever over 38.5 degrees C and not responding to antipyretics paracetamol.

Startles: this is a symptom of neurotoxicity, you should pay attention to see if the frequency of startles increases over time and notify your doctor.

In some cases, a child with hand, foot and mouth disease may show no signs of illness or appear very mild symptoms. However, you should also not be subjective. When you see that your baby has unusual signs, take him immediately to the medical facility for early examination and treatment to avoid having dangerous complications.

Dangerous complications of hand, foot and mouth disease

If you detect signs of hand, foot and mouth early and have timely treatment, complications of the disease are very rare. However, if left for a long time, children can experience some of the following dangerous complications:

Meningitis: Children with hand, foot and mouth disease are at risk of meningitis because the virus can penetrate the cerebrospinal synovial membrane.

Encephalitis: A serious condition that can cause speech problems, memory loss, and even death. However, this complication is very rare.

Dehydration: this is the most common complication. 

Prevent hands, feet and mouth by enhancing skin resistance

There is currently no vaccine for hand, foot and mouth prevention. Therefore, according to experts, the best way to prevent this disease is to find ways to strengthen and strengthen the body's immune system, in which the first barrier plays an important protective role. skin resistance.

Skin resistance is an important component of the immune system, able to help protect the body against the onslaught of harmful agents, especially pathogenic bacteria such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi; with 3 main fence layers: physical fence, chemical fence and biological fence. 

The physical barrier shields the organs in the body, regulates the body's drainage to the outside environment, against the influence of pathogenic bacteria, chemicals, and UV rays, and is a reserve source. immune cells. Chemical barriers of skin resistance include some "natural antibiotics" such as peptides and antibacterial lipids (Antimicrobial Peptide - AMPs and Antimicrobial Lipids - AMLs). They "energize" the skin's resistance by stimulating components of the immune system, destroying or inactivating many viruses, fungi, and bacteria that cause disease. Finally, the biological barrier in the skin's resistance is made up of a stable microbial system that resides on the skin. This microbiota makes the skin's resistance stronger by contributing to AMPs and AMLs, preventing pathogenic bacteria from entering the body. 

Strengthening the skin's resistance is the easiest way to protect children from the risk of hand, foot and mouth disease. To increase skin resistance , you should:

Develop a daily routine for children to bathe and clean themselves with skin care products with a silver ion + formula to help kill bacteria that cause disease, and optimize the skin's resistance. 

Remind your child to wash their hands often with antibacterial soap.

Build a nutritious diet with a variety of green vegetables and fruits to increase resistance. 

Give your child plenty of fluids and maintain physical exercise every day.

Besides enhancing skin resistance, you also need to pay attention to keeping the surrounding environment clean:

Clean contaminated surfaces and objects (including toys), then disinfect with a bleach containing dilute chlorine.

Avoid direct contact (hugging, kissing, sharing utensils, etc.) with an infected child to reduce the risk of infection.

Do not let infected infants and young children go to kindergartens, kindergartens, schools or gather with people until well.

Practice good eating hygiene: eat cooked, drink cooked; utensils used in eating and drinking must be cleaned before use. Use clean water in daily activities, do not feed children, do not feed children, suck hands, suck toys, do not allow children to share napkins, handkerchiefs, eating utensils such as cups, bowls, dishes , spoon, toy ...

Lifebuoy shower gel with silver + ion formula (including silver ions, Thymol and Terpineol) supports the skin resistance function, helps protect the body from bacteria and has been shown to not break the skin resistance structure for long term use.

Clean body every day with Lifebuoy is the optimal way to protect the skin's resistance, thereby protecting the health of ourselves and the whole family.