It is difficult to detect early complications of hand, foot and mouth disease

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The warning signs of complications of hand, foot and mouth disease are often atypical and are easy to miss. More dangerously, these complications often progress quickly and can cause death within hours.

1. Manifestations of hand, foot and mouth disease

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common disease in children under 5 years old and is very contagious. The disease is mainly spread through the gastrointestinal tract. The disease occurs in 2 seasons of the year, from February to May and then from September to December of the year.
Manifestations of hand, foot and mouth disease are often easy to recognize. These are water balloons about 2 - 10mm in size, gray in color, oval in shape. Blisters appear on the buttocks, knees, palms, soles of the child's feet and are usually painless when pressed. Blisters can also appear in the mouth and when broken, cause sores in the mouth that cause pain, discomfort, and salivation.
When the blisters appear, the child may have a low-grade fever, be fussy and refuse to eat. The blisters may deflate and clear up on their own in 5-7 days. Some children have vomiting and diarrhea even when the blisters appear or when the bladder has deflated.

2. Complications of hand, foot and mouth disease

Most of the cases will go away on their own, you can monitor your child's hand, foot and mouth disease at home. However, if the disease is caused by enterovirus 71, some children have very dangerous cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological complications such as:
Neurological complications: Encephalitis, myocarditis, meningitis,... Myoclonic jerks, startles: short 1-2 seconds, mainly in the arms and legs, easy to appear at the beginning of sleep or when the baby is lying on his back. Drowsiness, restlessness, unsteadiness, tremors. Eyeball tremor. Weakness, paralysis of limbs (acute flaccid paralysis). Cranial nerve palsy. Convulsions, coma are extremely dangerous signs, often accompanied by respiratory and circulatory failure. Increased muscle tone (manifested by loss of cerebral extensor, cortical rigidity) Cardiovascular and respiratory complications: Myocarditis, acute pulmonary edema, hypertension, heart failure, vascular collapse.

Unusual persistent crying, unrelenting high fever and startling are 3 very early symptoms that signal the risk of severe hand, foot and mouth disease.
Cases where the child may have complications:
Fever for more than 2 days. Fever over 39 degrees Celsius. High fever and difficult to reduce fever. Vomiting a lot. Signs that the child is having complications:
Startled and squirmed (usually at the beginning of sleep). Parents need to know to spot this sign. Lethargy, sleep a lot. Trembling limbs, unsteady walking, weakness in arms and legs. Signs that the child has had serious complications:
Tired breathing. Crying. Fluffy skin, cold hands and feet. Rapid pulse. High Blood Pressure. The most dangerous thing is that the early warning signs of complications of hand, foot and mouth disease are atypical, difficult to detect early and often overlooked. In particular, complications can develop very quickly, even causing death within a few hours.
Therefore, if there is a child with hand, foot and mouth disease, the family should send the child to a doctor to be able to clearly determine the child's condition in order to have a direction of care. In addition, close monitoring and timely detection of possible complications for the child's emergency is equally important.

3. Monitoring children with hand, foot and mouth disease at home

Hand, foot and mouth disease can be caused by many viruses and there is no specific treatment. Here are some notes when caring for and monitoring children with hand, foot and mouth disease at home:

Use painkillers, antiseptic mouth mucosa such as 0.9% saline, Kamistad, antipyretic drugs for children according to the doctor's instructions. Skin hygiene to avoid bacterial superinfection: bathe children with mild antiseptic water such as tea leaves, spinach leaves... Use Betadin solution to apply skin lesions after bathing. Eat easy-to-digest liquid foods such as: diluted porridge, milk, etc. Children are often easier to eat if the food is not spicy, not salty, not hot. Children with hand, foot and mouth disease will spread the virus to people around. Therefore, children should be absent from school for at least 10 days, avoiding contact, especially with other children, because hand, foot and mouth disease is very contagious. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to preventing illness for those around the patient by taking the following measures:
Wash hands often with soap under running water several times a day, especially before preparing food, before eating or drinking. feed the baby, before holding the baby, after going to the toilet, after changing diapers or cleaning the baby. Eating and drinking hygiene: It is necessary to implement good hygiene measures such as cooked food and boiling water. Eating utensils must be thoroughly cleaned before use. Make sure to use clean water in daily living and eating. Children should not share napkins, handkerchiefs, eating utensils such as cups, bowls, plates, spoons, toys, etc. In classrooms and at home, they must be cleaned with an antiseptic solution on the floor. , toys and other living items.

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