Foot, mouth and hand disease HELP!

[ChefGirl]

Yup, DS caught the above disease from day care during his FIRST week of transition. Yikes! So that transition was a total waste! Seriously, he had a day of high fever yesterday. Just drooling like crazy. I thought he was teething. But, it turned out he's got the above disease. The pediatrician said he mouth and throat are covered with sores. Yikes! The ped himself caught it from his baby boy and he was it was painful. He couldn't even talk. I"m keeping my fingers crossed for me not catching it, and my two other kids.

The ped said he could be contagious up to a week? Huh? I read somewhere that if his fever broke for 2 days, then he is no longer cotnagious. Just wonder when I should send him back to the day care.

I would appreciate any thoughts. My older two kids never got this disease before. I'm at a loss!

thanks.

[Fairy]

Oooh, I'm so sorry. DS had Cocsackie a couple years ago, but it was mild compared to Hand Foot and Mouth. I'm so sorry for your little guy. Sending you hugs.

[maestramommy]

Not BTDT, but I know a lot of kids who've had it. I think it's contagious as long as those sores are present. That's why it's longer than the duration of the fever. Hope you don't get it :hug:

[shawnandangel]

From the CDC: "The viruses that cause HFMD can remain in the body for weeks after a patient's symptoms have gone away. This means that the infected person can still pass the infection to other people even though he/she appears well. Also, some persons who are infected and excreting the virus, including most adults, may have no symptoms"

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm

[ThreeofUs]

My DS1 seemed to bring this home from his preschool weekly for a while there. It's highly contagious, so wash hands/knobs/toys as much as possible (though you may be beyond the stage now).

It's hard for little kids, because they can't tell you they think they have blisters on the back of their tongue, inside their cheek, or in their throat.... Lots of cool, easy to eat snacks helped our guy.

GL!

[713abc]

I got it from my 2 yr old in April. It was probably the most painful illness I've ever had. I could not eat or talk. (My son was not in as bad shape, he recovered more quickly). Mine lasted well over a week. On day 4 of my horrible large sores that covered my entire mouth, tongue, throat, I went into my husbands office (he's a dentist) and he applied this medicine called Debacterol to them. It basically is an acidic agent which chemically cauterizes the ulcer surface, sterilizing it, and covering the painful nerve endings. It was very painful while he was doing it, but really really worth it. The pain immediately went from off the charts horrible to bearable. Luickly I got the treatment for free, but he said he would have only charged one of his patients about $30 or so.

Not necessarily something that you would want to do for a baby, but for older kids and adults in a lot of pain from this, I suggest you look into it.

Robin

[ChefGirl]

From the CDC: "The viruses that cause HFMD can remain in the body for weeks after a patient's symptoms have gone away. This means that the infected person can still pass the infection to other people even though he/she appears well. Also, some persons who are infected and excreting the virus, including most adults, may have no symptoms"

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm

So, what do I do with him for the next week or so? Do I send him to daycare or not? How about 2 days after his fever broke? Any thoughts? Do I require a follow-up visit to the ped bfore start daycare again? Ugh.