Patient's question:
The child has been developing some rashes on their body recently. The child has been feeling unwell, and the doctor said it's hand, foot, and mouth disease. The child doesn't want to stay home and wants to go to school. I would like to ask if the child can go to school after getting hand, foot, and mouth disease?Doctor's answer:
It is recommended not to let children attend places where hand, foot, and mouth disease is highly contagious, as it can recur in infants and young children and cause blisters on the hands, feet, and mouth. In some cases, it can lead to complications such as myocarditis, pulmonary edema, and aseptic meningitis/encephalitis. The incubation period of this disease is 2 to 7 days, and during the peak period, patients themselves are the source of hand, foot, and mouth disease transmission. Patients excrete the virus from the pharynx within 1 to 2 weeks of onset and continue to excrete it from the feces for about 3 to 5 weeks. The blister fluid contains a large amount of virus.