Vietnam National Children’s Hospital has reported a sharp rise in the number of children with hand-foot-mouth disease.
Nguyen Van Lam, the hospital’s director, said, “We receive five to six patients a day with high fever and they need to stay at the hospital. Most of the children are under five years old. The symptoms show up after five or seven days.”
A 13-month-old child was admitted to the hospital on April 13 after vomiting and having a fever. When the child was admitted, the rash had already appeared on his limbs.
According to Lam, it’s best to bring the children to hospitals if there are a fever and rash. If a child’s fever does not go down with antipyretics, they should be monitored at medical facilities.
“Parents should clean their children’s toys and clothes frequently as hand-foot-mouth disease is spread by direct contact with saliva, mucus, and fluid from blisters,” the doctor said. “Children should have a healthy diet to boost their immune system.”
Severe complications of hand, foot and mouth disease include encephalitis, cardiovascular disease, and acute pulmonary edema.
“When the fever does not go down even though the children already use antipyretics, parents should not attempt to use a different brand or type of medicine or else it will lead to paracetamol poisoning,” he stressed.
