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:
- 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.
- 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)
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