What should we do if children cannot go to school due to this disease?

Parents with preschool children at home, please take a look: According to infectious disease monitoring data, April to July and October to December each year are the epidemic seasons of hand, foot and mouth disease in this city, among which the summer peak (April to July) is the main epidemic season. In order to protect the health of children, parents need to understand the characteristics of this disease, especially how to prevent it.

【Knowledge Hard Core Area】

【Virus】

Hand, foot and mouth disease is an acute infectious disease caused by enterovirus, among which Coxsackie A group 16 (CoxA16), CoxA10, CoxA6, and enterovirus 71 (EV71) are the most common. Enterovirus has strong resistance to the external environment and can survive for several days at room temperature and for several months in sewage and feces.

[Latent and infectious]

The incubation period of hand, foot and mouth disease is 2-10 days, with an average of 3-5 days. Its main source of infection is patients or latently infected persons, and it is highly contagious within 1 week after infection. The transmission routes of hand, foot and mouth disease are diverse, mainly through the fecal-oral route, including contact with the patient's feces, herpes fluid, nasopharyngeal secretions, saliva or objects contaminated by the virus; secondly, respiratory droplets; drinking or eating contaminated water and food can also cause infection.

【Onset】

Hand, foot and mouth disease is prevalent from April to July every year. It is common in preschool children. It usually starts acutely and the symptoms are generally mild. Fever, scattered herpes on the oral mucosa, maculopapular rash and herpes on the hands, feet and buttocks, inflammatory redness around the herpes, and less fluid in the blisters. It may be accompanied by cough, runny nose, loss of appetite and other symptoms. The treatment is mainly symptomatic, and the prognosis is good.

A small number of cases (especially those under 3 years old) may develop meningitis, encephalitis, encephalomyelitis, pulmonary edema, circulatory disorders, etc. The condition is serious and may cause death or leave sequelae. This disease is highly contagious and can easily cause outbreaks or epidemics. Since May 2, 2008, my country has classified it as a Class C infectious disease.

【prevention】

1. Get vaccinated. Currently, the inactivated EV71 vaccine for the common EV71 infection has been used clinically. Children aged 6 months to 5 years old can be vaccinated, which is of great significance for preventing severe hand, foot and mouth disease.

2. Wash your hands frequently. Hands are the main medium of transmission. You can follow the six-step hand washing method and use hand sanitizer and running water to disinfect your hands safely and efficiently. Children can also prepare hand sanitizer on their own and use it for hand hygiene when running water is not available.

3. Eat cooked food and drink boiled water. Hand, foot and mouth disease is an intestinal infectious disease. Do not eat raw food or drink raw water, and develop good living habits.

4. Frequent ventilation, sun exposure, and disinfection. Keep the air circulating indoors, expose children's clothes and bedding to the sun frequently, and pay attention to cleaning and disinfecting toys and other items that children often touch.

5. The National Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a guideline on wearing masks for the public in April 2023, stating that teachers and students in schools do not need to wear masks while in school, but if there are children with hand, foot and mouth disease in the class, they can wear masks appropriately. If hand, foot and mouth disease is prevalent in a school, group activities should be appropriately reduced.

Contributors: Han Ruobing and Mao Shenghua

Editor: Gu Tianmin

Reviewer: Zheng Yaxu, Feng Xiaogang