HFMD is a communicable disease caused by enteroviruses. Diagnosis is usually through history plus signs and symptoms observed through physical examination to differentiate from other vesicular eruptions. It mostly affects children under 10 years old but adults can also become infected.
Transmission:
➤ fecal-oral
➤ oral-oral
➤ respiratory routes
Objects, such as door knobs, contaminated with infected mucus, saliva, or blister fluid are also transmission pathways.
Signs and Symptoms:
➤ fever
➤ malaise
➤ mucocutaneous vesicular lesions: oropharynx, hands, feet, buttocks
➤ itching
Severe Cases:
➤ rash spreads to other parts of the body
➤ painful rash and blisters
➤ bullae
Drug Treatment (symptoms only):
➤ analgesics
➤ antihistamines
Herbal Medicine Formula (modified based on presentation)
➤ radix scutellariae
➤ rhizoma coptidis
➤ pericarpium citri reticulatae
➤ rx/rz glycyrrhizae
➤ radix scrophulariae
➤ radix bupleuri
➤ radix platycodonis
➤ fructus forsythiae
➤ radix isatidis
➤ lasiosphaera seu calvatia
➤ fructus arctii
➤ herba menthae
➤ bombyx batryticatus
➤ rhizoma cimicifugae
In practice I use the above formula with terrific outcomes but in order to be effective herbal formulas must be modified based on individual presentation.
Outcomes:
HFMD is usually limited and resolves within 2 weeks without complications and does not involve organs, other than the skin and mucus membranes, and does not result in epidermal necrosis.
If your child has symptoms it is best to contact your pediatrician right away. Stay on topic of hygiene and wash the hands. Keep your child away from others to avoid spreading the infection.Â