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View Full Version : Anyone got experience of Hand, Foot & Mouth?



Mouse
12-07-2012, 08:08 AM
I had a mindee kept off last week as mum said she had chicken pox.

The way mum described it over the phone I had my doubts, mainly about the way it started & where the spots were.

Anyway, mindee came back on Tuesday, fully recovered. Mum said she hadn't really been ill with the CP, had only had spots round her mouth & on her hands & feet. Mindee had no trace of scabs anywhere.

I googled hand, foot & mouth and thought it sounded more likely that that's what mindee had had. Yesterday my 11yr old daughter came out with red spots in her mouth, which turned to little blisters/ulcers. She's got the odd pin prick mark on her foot, so we're waiting to see what develops there. She's also been complaining of a sore throat & feeling generally a bit under the weather. I'm guessing she's got H,F & M, so I'm also guessing she caught it from mindee.

My questions are, do the spots/blisters actually scab over, as they do in chicken pox, or do they just fade away?

And what about exclusion? The HPA says no exclusion is necessary, but healh info says H,F & M is highly contagious?

BucksCM
12-07-2012, 08:24 AM
HFM is most contagious before the spots come out(like CP)
The spots appear in and around the mouth, hands and feet and sometimes in lo around the bum area. Some may scab over if scratched but they are not as blistery as CP spots.
No exclusion because it's one of the "childhood illnesses" that most get, and the damage has been done once the spots come out!
I have 2 lo who both had it a couple of months ago. Baby girl had it first and was quite bad. As mum put it..." she looks like a crack addict"!! Had very spotty mouth, hands, feet, nappy area. And the skin on here hands a feet peeled after too. Toddler didn't have it as bad as baby but still quite spotty.
Although there is no exclusion I didn't go out as the children are young and i socialise with other young children and just didn't want to pass it on...plus the children weren't themselves so staying at home was better for them.

LittleLegsCM
12-07-2012, 08:24 AM
I had a mindee kept off last week as mum said she had chicken pox.

The way mum described it over the phone I had my doubts, mainly about the way it started & where the spots were.

Anyway, mindee came back on Tuesday, fully recovered. Mum said she hadn't really been ill with the CP, had only had spots round her mouth & on her hands & feet. Mindee had no trace of scabs anywhere.

I googled hand, foot & mouth and thought it sounded more likely that that's what mindee had had. Yesterday my 11yr old daughter came out with red spots in her mouth, which turned to little blisters/ulcers. She's got the odd pin prick mark on her foot, so we're waiting to see what develops there. She's also been complaining of a sore throat & feeling generally a bit under the weather. I'm guessing she's got H,F & M, so I'm also guessing she caught it from mindee.

My questions are, do the spots/blisters actually scab over, as they do in chicken pox, or do they just fade away?

And what about exclusion? The HPA says no exclusion is necessary, but healh info says H,F & M is highly contagious?

HFM is very contagious! However, they are contagious for anything up to 14 days BEFORE symptoms start showing (i.e. blisters/spots etc come out) so it could be likely your daughter caught it from mindee before she had the time off last week :( It is also means exclusion is normally pointless as they have already been exposed by the time its been noticed.
Apparently once the blisters go they are no longer contagious but I would still be cautious for a few days, just in case. They dont normally scar but some can if they've been irritated by scratching/picking etc.

HTH's & I hope your daughter isn't too poorly with it x

singingcactus
12-07-2012, 08:26 AM
Mine all had hf&m a couple of months ago. They all carried on coming cos they all had it. Then they all got CP, they all carried on coming cos they all had it. Then last week one of them got hf&m again (we live in an enclosed compound so kids illnesses just keep on going round indefinitely!) and then one arrived this morning with his mum saying he has come out in CP again only the spots are bigger this time and we both realised that it had been hf&m that he had had 2 weeks ago!
The blisters on HF&M do not scab - this is mostly how we realised today's boy had hf&m last time ( I guess unless they are picked). It is contagious, but although it can be painful sometimes, it's really not that big a deal. If the kids are up to it I allow them to continue coming, if they are feeling ill with it then they stay home with mummy. Like I say though, I live on a compound and illnesses just keep going round, so exclusion makes no difference here, even kids who don't mix still get all the illnesses cos we only have one tiny shop, one community place, and one cafe for the hundreds of us here.

dette
12-07-2012, 08:27 AM
ive had two bouts over the years at my setting ..what you describe sounds like H F & M ..one of our bouts was during the foot and mouth outbreak so parents thought we were going to have to burn all the children in a big pit !!!.
It is contageous and not pleasant but i didnt exclude as both times my own kids were affected and alot at schools so couldnt see the point,they were likely to pick it up somewhere else anyway.
From what i remember they dont scab over(unless they have been scratched loads )the mouth ulcers can be painful.Our local doctors all gave different diagnoses for different kids ,one said thrush in mouth and gave gel for it ...didnt work.another said allergy and gave piriton ...didnt work ..one said H F & M ..go home and give calpol..that did nothing either but all cleared up within a few days .you need to give all toys and equipment a good clean as its passed on through contact ,direct or indirect

singingcactus
12-07-2012, 08:43 AM
[QUOTE=dette;1128968Our local doctors all gave different diagnoses for different kids ,one said thrush in mouth and gave gel for it ...didnt work.another said allergy and gave piriton ...didnt work ..one said H F & M ..go home and give calpol..that did nothing either but all cleared up within a few days .you need to give all toys and equipment a good clean as its passed on through contact ,direct or indirect[/QUOTE]

Our doctor just gave one of mine some verruca meds!!!!

Pipsqueak
12-07-2012, 08:52 AM
Never come across HFM

but I suffer regulary from foot in mouth - probably closely followed by some people wishing they could shove their hand in my face ... does that count?:D

LittleLegsCM
12-07-2012, 08:53 AM
..one of our bouts was during the foot and mouth outbreak so parents thought we were going to have to burn all the children in a big pit !!!.

:laughing::laughing: that made me chuckle!

My doctor was just as useless! When my son had it he said it was teething and refused to accept any other suggestion... a 21month old with all 20 teeth?! teething?! er, yeah, OK! :rolleyes: he said to use bonjella and paracetamol but I didnt, I just kept an eye on him to make sure he was still eating and taking water ok & he was fine within a few days.

HFM is a viral infection so there isnt really much they can do about it anyway but paracetamol is probably the best solution to try & ease any pain they may have as some LO can suffer quite badly :(

Mouse
12-07-2012, 10:49 AM
Thanks everyone.

I spoke to the mum about it this morning, so she's going to google HF&M. She said from what I told her it does sound as if that was what her lo had.

She'd assumed it was chicken pox because lo's cousin had been to the doctor with ulcers in his mouth & the doctor had said it was chicken pox. She now wonders if that was actually HF&M. From what some of you have said it does sounds as if the doctors get it wrong a lot of the time!

She's also now a bit peeved that she kept lo off last week thinking it was chicken pox when she wouldn't have been excluded if it was HF&M. I would add, peeved with herself, not me!

Luckily DD seems to have it very mildly, so hasn't suffered much.

BucksCM
12-07-2012, 11:04 AM
Never come across HFM

but I suffer regulary from foot in mouth - probably closely followed by some people wishing they could shove their hand in my face ... does that count?:D

:laughing::laughing::laughing: