Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease or Coxsackie Virus

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease or Coxsackie Virus

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease or Coxsackie Virus is very common among young children and can be more frequent over the warm summer months. Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is frequently confused as a Bovine illness “Hoof and Mouth” Disease, but there is no association. There have also been rumors of it being linked to “Mad Cow” disease, but there is NO link and Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is harmless and has no association with cows.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is found mostly in infants and young children. Common symptoms of Hand, Foot, and Mouth start with a low-grade fever, loss of appetite, and sometimes a sore throat. As it progresses sores may develop on the hands, feet, and in the mouth. I have found that the rash can occur in other places on the body including the belly, groin, arms, legs, etc. My daughter had a VERY poor appetite for close to a week and the sores on her hands became very raw due to temperature conditions and her thumb-sucking. The rash can be itchy or prickly like, and will often develop blisters. Cases can be very mild to very serious, but no health risks are associated with the virus.

There is no treatment for Coxsackie Virus and tests take to long to process, so tests are typically not ordered if one is thought to have Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. Tylenol can be taken to relieve pain and fever and numbing agents such as mouthwash, sprays, or gels can be used to numb mouth sores.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (Coxsackie Virus) is highly contagious and the virus lingers in the body for a while after the infection clears. It is not AS highly contagious after the rash is gone, but can still be passed on. Adults can get the virus also, but it will typically be very mild. I have had it twice when my daughter got it and I had a few blisters on my hands, one or two in my mouth, and a slightly sore throat.

The unfortunate thing about Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, which I learned when my daughter had her fourth bout with the illness is that the body does build up a resistance to the virus, Sounds like good news, doesn’t it? The bad part is the virus can mutate and take on stronger qualities, so each time a child gets the virus, it will become worse. By the fourth time my daughter had it, I couldn’t work for a week and she was in terrible pain. She was unable to eat or swallow anything and her little hands had raw, open sores.

Most parents hear Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, and are freaked out. The good news is that while it is a pain, it is a fairly mild illness. The moral is that we can HELP prevent viruses by thoroughly washing hands and using sanitary practices. If you are interested to  Learn about working at Medical Billing Service you can follow the link for all the inside details about the medical billing services that can help you in becoming a part of these services. 

About The Author