Hand Foot And Mouth Disease

[Neeranam]

My youngest daughter has been sent home from school today with this.

Has anyone any experience of this disease? How dangerous is it? We're going to the doctor in 1 hour.

[Nomad97]

My first though was about 'hand, foot and mouth disease' in cattle and I know that it is not good and pretty serious. However, you will be pleased to hear that a little research on the internet will tell you that the human variety of the disease is not the same, not serious and usually clears up by itself within a week or so.

[bina]

common, its not hoof and mouth disease like in bovines; its HFM hand foot and mouth disease; common, contagious, hurts, can be problematic if the child is not drinking (or eating);

give child liquids at room temperature or icey cold ice sweet ice pops (whatever the child prefers); masshed liquidy foods, breast feeding if he/she breast feeds w/o eating other stuff, the main problem is always dehydration.

funny enough, here in the past two weeks, two baby houses closed due to the same thing... miserable children/babies and more miserable parents stuck home from work... it goes away. some kids get it or similar (several typs of more or less same symptoms) more often, others dont ever get it.

goats milk works wonders, helps reduce the amount of time with mouth sores, does not have to be un pasteurized as many old folks claim. our doctors recommend it , its the milk in the mouth that works, dont need to swallow it actually, studies from belinson hospital (pediatric) recently came out with conclusive studies confirming its usefulness (here, goats milk is and has been used as a 'grandmother's remedy forever, especially in the yemenite community. the grannies always claimed that the milk had to be strait out of a goat teat. not true.) but only goat. cant remember what is in it but it helps. sorry, the article i have is in hebrew. but tons of kibbutz kids /and parents swear by it also.

some babies need IV fluids if they arent drinking enough. change sheets pillowcases and towels a few times a day (kids drool alot), clean all toys with mild bleach solution, wash your hands a lot.

kids get older and grow out of this particular disease.

bina

israel