I did not realise the kind of pain my little girl went through until a few days into her illness she spread it to me. It was terrible, I was feeling almost all the symptoms; fever, headache, sore throat, loss of appetite, blisters at the palms and soles of my feet till I could barely walk. My doctor said I was his first case of an adult HFMD as it is really rare but still possible in adults.
(When I first heard the HFMD from him, my first reaction was ‘Am I going to die?’)
Ha! Thinking back, it was kind of funny when I got confused with the foot-and-mouth disease which is affecting sheep and cattle. Of course he then explained to me that it is not as serious as it sounds and then it sparked me that Emma had that disease and that’s why I got it.
HFMD is moderately contagious and is spread through direct contact with the mucus, saliva, or faeces of an infected person. It typically occurs in small epidemics at nursery schools or kindergartens and the usual incubation period is 3-7 days which applies to adults too. Although it is widely known not to be serious, every year there are still deaths from HFMD in some parts of the world like China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and India. So it best to play safe and bring your kid to the doctor upon the first signs of HFMD.
On the whole, there is no need for special treatment but the most essential part to curing is to take medicine and force the fever to go down. For blisters, I was only offered calamine lotion to relieve the itchiness and Emma had her special lotion to relieve the ‘fungus’ (paediatrician diagnosis).In easing sore throat which also directly causes a loss of appetite, it is best to give ice cream, yogurt or cool milk to keep the little ones full, while in the case of adults just swallow congee.
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Health News » Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD) // July 1, 2008 at 4:53 am
[...] ryeilding wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThinking back, it was kind of funny when I got confused with the foot-and-mouth disease which is affecting sheep and cattle. Of course he then explained to me that it is not as serious as it sounds and then it sparked me that Emma had … [...]
Health | Pictures of foot fungus — Recycle Email // July 2, 2008 at 2:53 am
[...] Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD) By elseachng For blisters, I was only offered calamine lotion to relieve the itchiness and Emma had her special lotion to relieve the ‘fungus’ (paediatrician diagnosis).In easing sore throat which also directly causes a loss of appetite, … – http://elseachng.wordpress.com [...]
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