What is Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease?
The disease is caused by a virus that is highly contagious in the first week and commonly affects babies and children. The risk of transmission is especially high in communal living areas. It spreads through direct contact with nasal, eye, saliva discharges, or the feces of an infected person. Typically, it is seen in the summer and autumn months. The incubation period is 3-7 days.
Symptoms and Modes of Transmission
It begins with upper respiratory tract infection symptoms, fever (38-39 degrees Celsius), accompanied by mild cough, runny nose, sore throat when swallowing, headache, ear pain, and red spotted lesions (tissue damage) on the tongue, mouth, cheeks, and around the mouth. Sores or blisters appear on the buttocks, palms, soles, inside the mouth, and sometimes on the lips of young children and babies, which later turn into skin ulcers and pustules, followed by diarrhea.
It usually spreads from child to child through respiratory and oral routes, close contact with an infected person, or swallowing virus-contaminated water (such as pool water). It spreads from person to person through contact with throat and nasal discharges, saliva, blister fluid, or the feces of an infected individual.
Precautions
- Facilities with many children should frequently monitor children periodically and track the number and diagnoses of children visiting doctors.
- Avoid close contact with patients (such as kissing, hugging), avoid sharing plates, cups, and other materials, and follow basic hygiene rules to prevent the disease.
- Dishwasher temperatures should reach 80 °C.
- Relevant staff, sick children, and their families should increase handwashing frequency.
- Liquid soap and disinfectant dispensers should be checked in all areas and regularly refilled and kept ready for use.
- Especially after every toilet use, floor attendants should carefully wash and disinfect their hands after cleaning toilets, bathrooms, or rooms with children.
- Cleaning and disinfection of diaper changing units should be maintained at the highest level. People using these units must wash and disinfect their hands after changing diapers.
- Used diapers left in rooms or outside rooms should be carefully placed in closed garbage bags and disposed of in trash rooms.
- The surfaces of all materials used by children, including the Mini Club area, furniture, equipment, and toys, should be properly cleaned with detergent and disinfected.
- General surfaces (door handles, TV, air conditioner remote controls, etc.) should be cleaned and disinfected frequently and carefully.
- Textiles used in patient rooms should be collected separately, sent to the laundry in a separate bag, and washed separately (60-90 °C).
- All cleaning tools and equipment (mops, cloths, sponges, etc.) used in patient rooms should be replaced with disposable tools and equipment.
- In pools (especially those used by children such as children’s pools, slides, etc.), chlorine levels should be kept high; balance tanks, hair catchers, grills, and channels should be brushed and disinfected with chlorine.
- Children’s pool water should be changed frequently.
For Disinfection
A mixture of 50 - 100 ml of bleach (5%) in 10 liters of water can be used for disinfection.