Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Today a parent brought his terribly ill baby to the pharmacy.

This baby is so poor thing, she has HFMD.

Hand, Foot and Mouth disease is a common illness of infants and children. It is characterized by fever, sores in the mouth, and a rash with blisters. It usually begins with a mild fever, poor appetite, malaise ("feeling sick"), and frequently a sore throat. One or 2 days after the fever begins, painful sores develop in the mouth. They begin as small red spots that blister and then often become ulcers. They are usually located on the tongue, gums, and inside of the cheeks. The skin rash develops over 1 to 2 days with flat or raised red spots, some with blisters. The rash does not itch, and it is usually located on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. It may also appear on the buttocks. A person with HFMD may have only the rash or the mouth ulcers.

The most common cause is coxsackievirus A16, while HFMD is not deadly, it is moderately contagious. Infection is spread from person to person by direct contact with nose and throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the stool of infected persons. A person is most contagious during the first week of the illness. Normally babies/ children contract it in childcare centres, due to poorer hygiene habits of kids.

So this baby is really very poor thing. A baby with HFMD will experience great pain because they will experience high fever, and the sores in her mouth has made her lost her appetite for food and water. Drinking simple fluid like water will cause great pain. Drinking milk hurts, eating cereals hurts, everything hurts.

So we recommended pedialyte. Pedialyte is an ORS (oral rehydration salt), normally we take it if we have many episodes of diarrhea, in order to replenish the lost fluid. It contains the necessary salts and glucose to sustain our body. So we asked the parent to buy the Pedialyte freezer pops for the baby, it may help to numb the pain in her mouth when sucking the frizzy pedialyte.

Today i saw a lot of babies and toddlers in my pharmacy. You know, they are soo cute :D