Remember my questions about Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease?

[becka]

Well now I am really worried. DS so far appears fine but both DH and I developed very sore throats and moderate fevers (100 - 101) last night. We both pretty much feel like we have been run over but we don't know if this is the early stages of HFMD or just an unfortunate coincidence. DS seems to be eating/drinking OK and was not running a fever this morning.

The information I have states symptoms usually show up 3 to 7 days after initial exposure. The daycare reported the case on last Friday so we are within that window.

I did a little reading on the Internet but you never know how much to trust. The experiences I have been reading are really scary. It sounds like this is just a very terrible illness especially for little kids and no picnic for adults either.

 

[DaisyDebbie]

Oh the dreaded Coxsackie Virus aka Hoof and Mouth disease. My kids used to get it alot. Dr. said you can catch it in pools. It is a viral thing. The kids get over it faster but I too have gotten it from them and was down for 2 days, feeling like a truck hit me.

Lots of aspirin and rest.

 

[snoopy]

First of all, from one mommy to the other, trust me when I say stay away from Internet diganosis!

My kids both had it, and while it was no picnic, it was no worse then when they had some other childhood illness. We never contracted it, nor did any of the parents of the kids in daycare with ours. I've never heard of it being life threatening, although I'm sure there are isolated cases. For the most part, if you have it, you'll need plenty of rest and as much liquid as your throat can stand.

I sure hope that you and your DH get to feeling better, becca! And that Nathan does not get sick either!

 

[CEDmom]

Becka,

My DD had this 2 years ago when she was 21 months old. She came home from daycare on a Thursday fine but didn't want to eat dinner. Early Friday morning her temp was 102. I thought it was an ear infection and took her to the dr. It wasn't. She ran the fever off and on over the weekend and when we returned to the dr on Mon she had white spots on her throat and mouth. Our dr diagnosed herpengina (sp?) which is foot, hand, mouth disease. It's a virus so no antibiotics. We alternated tylenol and motrin and stocked up on ice pops.

The biggest concern with this is getting dehydrated so anything you can get your DS to drink or eat (ice pop, ice cream etc) is really important. Don't worry about nutrition, we gave DD ice cream for breakfast. I also put yogurt in an ice pop mold and DD loved those.

We kept DD home from daycare the entire week to avoid exposing anyone else. No one else at daycare got it nor did DH or I.

By Wednesday DD was fine and eating normally. So in total it was about 5 rough days. The most frustrating was not knowing what was wrong for 3 days and her not being able to tell us.

This is a very common summer illness among the young toddler crowd because they're constantly touching things and putting hands in mouth.

Good luck and hang in there.

Kate

 

[PamOKW]

I hope you are all feeling better soon.

First time I've seen your picture and I'm in cute overload!!! Adorable baby and a poodle in the background! Give 'em both a hug from me.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Don't rule out strep for you and DH. Antibiotics can quickly help strep. Look in your throat and decide if you should be seen by a Dr.