Health encyclopaedia

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Treatment of Hand, foot and mouth disease

Hand foot and mouth disease usually clears up by itself after about a week. It does not need treatment except to relieve the symptoms.

Give your child plenty of fluids (water or weak squash) and children’s paracetamol if they have a fever or sore throat. Do not give aspirin to children under 16.

In rare cases, the sores might become infected because the child has scratched them. The infection will need to be treated with antibiotics. Your GP will advise you.

If your child has hand, foot and mouth disease, it may be advisable to keep them away from playschool until they are better. Remember though, that they will have been infectious before they had any symptoms, so they may have already passed on the infection.

Because hand, foot and mouth disease can be serious if a pregnant woman catches it, it is advisable to keep children with the virus away from pregnant women. However, as mentioned above, the person is infectious before they show any symptoms, so this may not be possible.

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