red spots or blisters on the palms of their hands and on their fingersred spots or blisters on the soles of their feet and on their toesulcers in a child’s mouth (especially their tongue, gums, and inside of the cheeks)
Other symptoms can include a fever, rash on the child’s buttocks and legs, and mild pain from the mouth ulcers.
Are They Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease Symptoms?
While it is often easy to diagnose a child with classic symptoms of hand, foot, and mouth disease, there are other childhood infections that cause similar symptoms and not all cases of HFMD are so classic. For example, some kids with HFMD:
may not have a fevermay only have mouth ulcers (herpangina) and may not have blisters on their hands and feetmay only have a few mouth ulcersmay have peeling on their fingers and toes and may even lose their fingernails and toenails a few weeks after the other symptoms have gone away
And some kids don’t have any symptoms at all, but may still be contagious.
HFMD Look-A-Likes
And other conditions can cause mouth ulcers or a rash on a child’s hand’s and feet. Herpes simplex virus type 1 can cause mouth ulcers and fever in children but doesn’t cause hand or feet blisters. Ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever can both cause rashes that involve a child’s palms and soles, but since they are followed by a tick bite, they likely won’t easily be confused with HFMD. And still other conditions cause skin peeling, like scarlet fever and Kawasaki disease.
What To Know About Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease Symptoms
Other things to know about the symptoms of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease include that:
Kids don’t necessarily need to be kept out of daycare when they have HFMD unless they are drooling a lot or have a fever.HFMD is not the same thing as foot-and-mouth disease, which occurs in cattle, pigs, and sheep.Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is usually caused by the coxsackievirus A16 virus and goes away without treatment, although symptomatic treatments to control pain can be helpful. Important complications to look for include dehydration, especially if your child has painful mouth ulcers and is not eating and drinking well.Enterovirus 71 and coxsackievirus A6 can also cause HFMD.While most people get natural immunity to HFMD when they infected as kids, some older kids and parents can get HFMD if they aren’t immune.
Talk to your pediatrician if you think that your child has hand, foot, and mouth disease.
