Paediatricians seeing a steady flow of children with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Chennai

It is highly contagious and needs certain precautionary measures to prevent spread, say doctors

Over the past few weeks, paediatricians are seeing a steady flow of children with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) in Chennai. Though self-limiting, HFMD is highly contagious and needs certain precautionary measures to prevent spread.

According to doctors, HFMD, a viral infection, usually occurs in children under the age of five. Fever along with rashes on the hand, feet and ulcer in the mouth are the main symptoms of HFMD.

“We are seeing at least 10 to 15 children with HFMD a day. The lesions appear on the elbow, feet, buttock and mouth. It is self-limiting, and so, parents need not worry. We provide symptomatic treatment for HFMD,” said Janani Sankar, deputy medical director of Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital.

At least 10% of all cases that senior paediatrician P. Ramkumar sees are of HFMD. “So, it is one out of 10 children. We have been seeing cases for the past one month. HFMD is due to coxsackie virus. It has nothing to do with chickenpox and so, food restriction and lifestyle modifications are not needed. It will mostly resolve in a week like other viral illnesses. As it is contagious, it is better to avoid contact with the patient,” he said.

Doctors added that affected children need to stay away from schools or daycare centres for seven days to prevent the spread.

Rema Chandramohan, director, Institute of Social Paediatrics, Government Stanley Medical College Hospital said, the majority of the children with HFMD were treated as outpatients, unless they had very high fever. “We have been seeing cases of HFMD in the past six weeks, and it is coming down now. We tell parents to take care if there are other children at home as it is highly infectious,” she said.

“It is important to seek medical advice for HFMD. If the child attends a nursery school, they should be informed and disinfection measures should be taken up. Very rarely does HFMD lead to complications such as aseptic meningitis and myocarditis,” E. Theranirajan, dean of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital who is a paediatrician, noted.

RISE IN RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS

During the same period, doctors have also been seeing several cases of fever and respiratory infections. As Dr. Janani Sankar observed, “We are seeing a lot of children with fever and respiratory infections from March. The cases were high in the last month. This was mainly among smaller children aged two to five years. We had older children with severe wheeze for the first time, and those who already had asthma, reporting with a bout of severe wheeze.”

Staying indoors for almost two years during the pandemic and resuming school, travelling and visiting people could probably be the reason for this rise in respiratory infections among children due to increase in exposure. It was important to continue adherence to masking and other protocols, she added.

Dr. Rema Chandramohan also noted that respiratory infections were quite high a few weeks ago.