Patient's question:
He is over three years old now and speaks very fluently. Recently, due to a cold, he has been lacking energy and has rarely spoken. Yesterday, I took him to the hospital for treatment. Hospitals have a lot of bacteria, and I worry about cross-infection with the hand, foot, and mouth disease virus. Can hospitals be a place where one can get cross-infected with the hand, foot, and mouth disease virus?Doctor's answer:
Hospitals are places where patients gather in large numbers. The air in hospitals is filled with many bacteria or viruses carried by patients who come to seek treatment. Children around three years old have particularly weak immune systems. In such an environment as a hospital, they are very likely to contract hand, foot, and mouth disease through cross-infection. Therefore, it is recommended that parents generally do not take young children to hospitals but instead go to specialized children's hospitals.