HFM

[Anonymous]

Hand foot and mouth is making the rounds in elementary school! Please please keep your kids home when they are sick

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hand foot and mouth is making the rounds in elementary school! Please please keep your kids home when they are sick

HFM is most contagious before there are any symptoms. That's why it spreads so dramatically. So, yes, keep your kids home when they are sick and you will cut down on the spread of various illnesses but this probably won't be one of them.

[Anonymous]

It is all over my kids school all the way up through 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. I just got over it and then got bronchitis and two ear infections. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I just got over it and then got bronchitis and two ear infections. Ugh.

Yuck! I thought it was a baby- pre-k disease?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I just got over it and then got bronchitis and two ear infections. Ugh.

Yuck! I thought it was a baby- pre-k disease?!

I teach kindergarten and sadly, their hygiene skills leave a lot to be desired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I just got over it and then got bronchitis and two ear infections. Ugh.

Yuck! I thought it was a baby- pre-k disease?!

DP adults can definitely get it. May not be as bad but anyone can get it.

[Anonymous]

I had HFM as an adult my first year teaching. I was so so sick—worst ever! I was on steroids and Percocet for a week. Every mouth sore eventually turned into canker sores. Dozens of them!

[Anonymous]

HFM went through several pools/swim teams in Fairfax County this summer, so this isn’t surprising.

[Anonymous]

My son missed the final summer week of Kindercare Stringfellow (they have a school age summer program) in August because HFM spread through there like wild-fire. I had an outbreak of canker sores in my mouth, so I presume I got it as well.

Surprised it has taken this long to reach the elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had HFM as an adult my first year teaching. I was so so sick—worst ever! I was on steroids and Percocet for a week. Every mouth sore eventually turned into canker sores. Dozens of them!

Were they visible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HFM went through several pools/swim teams in Fairfax County this summer, so this isn’t surprising.

Gross! Does the chlorine not kill it?

[Anonymous]

The adults who I’ve known to get it, had terrible symptoms. Way worse than my kids.
There are 7 strains of the virus, so possible to get more than once. My middle kid has had it twice- thankfully the second time wasn’t so bad.

[Anonymous]

So fun fact. My kids had HFM in September and I called the pediatrician to ask what to do about school. We were explicitly told (in writing) that we can send them to school once they're fever free even if they have a rash because it's both contagious before the rash starts and for 1-3 weeks after the rash in their respiratory tract and over a month in their stool if they don't wash their hands well enough. It also tends to not cause hospitalization so it isn't worth keeping kids out of school for over a week waiting for blisters to resolve.

We kept our kids out of other activities with kids that they hadn't exposed until their rashes resolved but they went back to school once their feet weren't too sore for shoes with their Pediatricians blessing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HFM went through several pools/swim teams in Fairfax County this summer, so this isn’t surprising.

Gross! Does the chlorine not kill it?

It could have been transmitted while on deck or during team activities:

Direct contact: Touching an infected person or their belongings, such as toys, cups, or doorknobs.
Respiratory droplets: Inhaling droplets from an infected person's cough, sneeze, or talk.