Hand, foot and mouth disease is the most dangerous for babies under 5 years old.

Xiao Kun Kun, male, 7 months, from a city in Shandong Province, was admitted to hospital at 10: 00 a.m. on March 22 of a certain year. He died at 8: 23 p.m. on the same day. The rescue lasted for 10 hours and 23 minutes. Death diagnosis: hand-foot-mouth disease. Such tragedies occurred many times in a short few weeks. The common feature is that small patients delayed treatment for hand-foot-mouth disease and died after rescue for about 12 hours.

How to avoid such tragedies? How to find out as soon as possible whether the baby suffers from hand, foot and mouth? How to deal with it and how to prevent it? Dr. Clove will take you to understand the disease.

Should what People Prevent Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease?

Every year from April to June is the season of high incidence of hand-foot-mouth disease, which mainly invades babies aged 5 and below. Therefore, it is now that no matter whether the baby has had hand-foot-mouth disease before or not, if ta is within the above age range, has been to crowded places, or is attending kindergartens, special attention should be paid!

Does hand-foot-mouth disease have initial symptoms of what?

The initial stage of hand-foot-mouth disease is especially like a cold, but there are some differences:

Severe hand-foot-mouth disease requiring special prevention

Hand, foot and mouth disease is an infectious disease caused by enterovirus. The virus has two main types: Coxsackie virus A16 (Coxsackie A16) and enterovirus 71 (EV71). The former is mild and the latter is severe.

If a baby who has been clearly diagnosed as hand-foot-mouth disease has repeated sudden systemic muscle contraction similar to shock when falling asleep, parents should be on guard against the type of infection with hand-foot-mouth bias!

This action, known as muscle jump convulsion, is easy to appear when infected with this heavier type of EV71. It is an early indicator of nervous system involvement, especially if the sick baby develops brainstem encephalitis. In Asia, central nervous system infection caused by EV71 often causes brainstem encephalitis complicated with pulmonary edema.

Severe hand-foot-mouth disease may also cause symptoms such as lethargy, unconsciousness, poor vitality, weakness of hands and feet, persistent vomiting, shortness of breath or rapid heartbeat.

Severe hand-foot-mouth disease caused by EV71 will cause children to suddenly deteriorate after fever for 3-5 days and rapidly develop into acute heart and lung failure. If they are not treated in time, most children will die within 24 hours of admission.

The tragedy mentioned at the beginning of the article may not only be ignored by parents and delay the illness, but also be due to the fact that the child is infected with this type of virus.

What if hand, foot and mouth symptoms occur?

Parents:

At present, the treatment of severe patients with hand-foot-mouth disease mainly adopts supportive therapy, i.e. Symptomatic treatment. Bao parents should pay attention to observe whether the baby has the above symptoms and see a doctor in time so as not to miss the critical period of treatment.

If the baby is generally suffering from mild hand-foot-mouth disease, About 10 days can be self-healing, during this period should be isolated at home and try to rest. During the illness, the baby’s oral ulcer is very painful, cold and sweet food can make them slightly comfortable and reduce irritability, so parents are encouraged to give some cold and soft food to the baby, such as cold milk or water.

It is suggested that parents should not judge the severity of the hand, foot and mouth they suffer from by themselves, but believe that doctors should make professional judgment on their diseases. No matter the severity, they should see a doctor as soon as possible.

Kindergarten/nursery:

If there is a baby with hand-foot-mouth disease in a kindergarten or other childcare institution, Infected babies can excrete body fluids containing virus particles through cough, runny nose or vomiting. The virus can be transmitted indirectly through children’s hands, towels, toys, tableware, bedding, underwear, etc. It can also be transmitted through droplets caused by the virus in children’s throat secretions and saliva.

Therefore, teachers should do a good job in disinfection of daily necessities, tableware, toys, etc. Clothes should be exposed to the sun and indoor ventilation should be maintained. Wash children’s hands with soap or hand sanitizer before meals, after defecation and after going out.

How to prevent the baby from contracting hands, feet and mouth?

How can healthy babies avoid infecting hands, feet and mouth? Many treasure parents may think of getting vaccines. The State Food and Drug Administration approved the world’s first application for registration and production of hand-foot-mouth disease vaccine on December 3, 2015.

However, the approved vaccines are mainly aimed at hand-foot-mouth disease caused by EV71, and vigilance is still needed for hand-foot-mouth disease caused by other virus types.

In the epidemic season, parents can let their children go to crowded public places as little as possible to reduce the chance of infection. In addition, pay attention to the nutrition and rest of infants to prevent excessive fatigue, and can also ensure that children have better resistance to resist the occurrence of hand-foot-mouth disease.

Responsible Editor: Cat Capricorn