Care and oral hygiene of children with hand, foot and mouth disease

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Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common disease in children under 5 years old. The disease causes many complicated and dangerous complications that can lead to death. The disease is characterized by blister-like skin lesions on the oral mucosa, palms, and feet. One of the common complications is a widespread, superinfected mouth ulcer that causes pain and discomfort for children. Therefore, it is necessary to know how to take care of and clean the mouth of children.

1.Learn about hand, foot and mouth disease Hand, foot and mouth disease is a disease that can spread from person to person, developing into an epidemic caused by enteric viruses including Coxsackie virus A16 and Enterovirus 71 (EV71). The main manifestation of the disease is skin and mucosal lesions in the form of blisters, concentrated on the mucous membranes of the mouth, palms, feet, buttocks, and knees.
Hand, foot and mouth disease can occur all year round. However, the disease tends to increase from March to May and from September to December every year.
2. Signs of hand, foot and mouth disease The disease has an incubation period of 3-5 days, then begins with signs of upper respiratory tract inflammation such as cough, fever, sore throat, runny nose, tired, crying. Then, the characteristic manifestations of the disease include:
A vesicular rash on the skin: the child appears a few millimeters in diameter, raised above the normal skin, and then becomes vesicles. This erythema appears mainly on the fingers, palms, soles, buttocks, knees, thighs. The rash usually disappears after 7-10 days, then leaves a bruise, rarely superinfection Mouth ulcers: May appear red around the mouth and cause ulcers inside the mouth. The sores are usually 4-8mm in diameter and are located in the mouth, on the tongue and roof of the child's mouth, making it difficult for the baby to swallow, painful when eating, causing the child to stop eating. Especially if parents do not know how to clean mouth sores, it can spread, infecting the oropharynx, down to the lungs, causing pneumonia, periodontitis, oral thrush,... Fever: Mild fever or high fever. High fever is a warning sign of possible complications

3. Pay attention to detect severe signs of hand, foot and mouth disease Hand, foot and mouth disease, if there are no complications, can be treated and monitored at home. However, it is necessary to take the child to the hospital if there are severe signs after
Continuous high fever, lasts more than 2 days, cannot reduce fever with common antipyretic drugs The child is often startled The child is tired, sleeping a lot, lethargic Sweating, whole body cold Rapid breathing, abnormal breathing, wheezing, shallow breathing, shortness of breath, shortness of breath, chest indrawing Tremors, unsteadiness, unsteadiness of walking Convulsions 4. Care and oral hygiene of children hand, foot and mouth Oral hygiene Oral hygiene is aimed at helping children recover from illness quickly, not spreading, preventing possible complications of superinfection in the oropharynx, helping children eat and drink more easily. Oral hygiene measures for children are as follows:
The best oral hygiene is by rinsing with physiological saline after each meal, before going to bed, and waking up. Gargling with salt water is able to clean the mouth without danger.
In addition, glycerin borate solution can be used to clean the mouth before and after eating. Oral gel (kamistad, zyttee...) has analgesic and antiseptic effects so that children can eat and drink more easily.
Note: Do not use milk towels, cotton swabs soaked in salt water to wash your children's teeth, increasing the risk of touching and breaking the blisters, making the ulcer worse.
Clean skin to avoid bacterial superinfection. Absolutely do not abstain from bathing, it is necessary to bathe children daily with clean water or mild antiseptic water such as tea leaves, spinach leaves...
Then use an antiseptic solution such as Betadin, methylene blue apply skin lesions after bathing

Nutrition Pay attention to nutrition for children, need to ensure quality, stimulate children to eat well. Choosing foods for children, it is necessary to choose soft, cool foods that do not cause heat to create a comfortable and easy-to-eat feeling such as nutritional powder, milk, yogurt, cheese,
Treatment of symptoms for children Use anti-inflammatory drugs Fever with Paracetamol, taken at a dose of 10-15mg/kg/time, every 4-6 hours, only used when the child has a fever of 38.5oC or more. If the fever is mild, just apply a warm compress to the child
Rehydrate the child if the child has a high fever with oserol, drink plenty of water
Supplement with vitamin C, zinc, resistance-boosting drugs
5. Prevention of human-to-human disease caused by direct contact with saliva, nasopharyngeal secretions, through the fecal-oral route. Therefore, in order to avoid spreading to other children, it is necessary to take measures to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease as follows:
When detecting a child showing hand, foot and mouth symptoms, the child should be isolated until the disease is completely cured. Do not burst the blisters because of the risk of superinfection and disease transmission. Sanitize the living environment: Wipe the patient's room, disinfect surfaces, beds, and chambers with Chloramin B 2%. Nurseries, schools, and houses should be treated with waste, patient clothes, bed linen and reused care tools according to procedures to prevent gastrointestinal diseases. Family members or medical staff need to wash their hands with soap after changing clothes, diapers, after contact with feces, saliva, after examination ...

When a child has signs of hand, foot and mouth, parents can take the child to Vinmec Health system for timely examination and treatment.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.