Clinical features

Symptoms of the disease usually last for 7 to 10 days (1).

• it begins with a prodrome of sore throat, dysphagia, pyrexia of 38 to 39 degrees centigrade, poor appetite and malaise for one or two days (1,2)
• mouth lesions - appears one or two days after the fever
  • vesicles are seen in the oral cavity, on the buccal mucosa and sides of the tongue
  • these vesicles begin as small red spots which form bullae and ulcerate (1)
• skin lesions
  • seen in around 75% of cases (1)
  • a typical eruption appears on the hands and feet, and in small children occasionally on the buttocks
  • the lesions consist of tender papules and clear vesicles with a surrounding zone of erythema

References:

1. Saguil A, Kane SF, Lauters R, et al. Hand-foot-and-mouth disease: rapid evidence review. Am Fam Physician. 2019 Oct 1;100(7):408-14.
2. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2024. National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases - Division of Viral Diseases. Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD)