help please Options

[Angel_Elle]

Okay seeing as my kids rarely get sick and then its usually only colds (apart from Dan getting bronchiolitis and ending up in hospital for a few days as a result) I haven't really had to deal with many kids illness so I'm stumped as to what exactly they have wrong - any one care to enlighten me? - Bit of a long explaination for you all....

Last Sunday (18th Dec) Milly complained of a sore tongue - eventually she showed me and i could see a large blister on the side towards the front - i thought perhaps she had burnt it on toasted cheese sandwiches the day prior. All that week she barely ate cos it hurt so Thursday i took her to get her 4yr needles done and find out what to do as it didn't look to heal as quickly as i thought a burn would - the Dr had a look and said it could be a burn but it could also be a virus but didnt say if it was a virus what sort etc. by Saturaday it has pretty well healed.

However add to this from Thursday morning DH spotted a rash on Liam around the back of his thigh up towards the edge of the nappy - Friday he complained of a sore tongue but i couldn't see anything then Saturday Dh has spotted a small blister on the front of his tongue.

Add to this Thursday night after getting back from a drive and getting Dan out of the car he felt really hot and his skin was red - temp was 39 so i gave him panadol, and gave him some time to let that work whilst getting everyone dinner etc before contemplating a trip to the hospital. his temp came down so we cancelled thinking about the hospital trip unless it went up again. But we noticed he had a similar rash to Liam and it was also down the front of his legs.

Good old DR Google says its foot, hand mouth virus but if it is i have no clue how the heck they got it as they don't go to daycare and haven't played with any kids in the last few weeks. So is it what DR google says (i have treated them as contagious and we cancelled our plans of going out on xmas). Also if its how long before they are considered not contagious?


Thanks everyone in advance for your help and advice

[ClaireBear]

My Nicholas has had this two or three times this year. He would have caught it from daycare but it's pretty contagious so can be picked up anywhere.

I only took him to the doctor the first time as there is nothing much that can be done about it but the doc said to keep him isolated until the blisters have gone, especially the mouth ones.

Nick always gets the worst blisters in his mouth (hardly any on feet and hands but some in nappy area) and we give panadol and lots of fluids, also pain stop at night as he can't sleep because of the pain. There's also an ointment that we got from the chemist that numbs the mouth area so they can eat but I can't remember what it's called.

Hope the feel better soon.

[Angel_Elle]

Thanks ClaireBear - the only blister Milly had and Liam now has is in the mouth no where else just a rash and it only seems to hurt them when they try to eat which is why im a tad surprised its foot, hand mouth virus. Liams seems to be alot better today so fingers crossed Daniel doesnt get any.

[Catran]

Tom got hand, foot & mouth disease last year and I think he passed it to me because I ended up with the WORST mouth ulcers. I mean REALLY bad. He got a rash and a temperature of 42C but no blisters that we could see. He was at daycare at the time, so he may have picked it up there. Hasn't been in daycare at all since June and hasn't been sick either. But they can pick it up from anywhere. Don't stress too much, just try to manage any pain and fever they have and it should resolve itself fairly quickly.

[scasey77]

I would have said hand, foot and mouth too as it is highly contagious.

Some kids are lucky and get a mild case in terms of not getting too many blisters. Maybe that is what yours have got. Cate had a case where she only had a few blisters on her hand - none in the mouth or on her legs and she wasn't really overly sick at all - only a very mild temp.

I would just keep them isolated until the blisters have disappeared from their mouths and temps have gone down.

[Em-Jay]

Yeah I would have said hand foot and mouth too! Emmy had it when she was 2 and it was awful!! Temps, heaps of ulcers in her mouth/tongue and a rash on her legs and nappy area! Riley had it at about 3 months but he didn't have it as bad.... Temps, a couple of spots on his hands and one blister on his tongue..

Not much you can do, just keep up the fluids if they don't feel like eating and panadol and Nurofen for the pain....

[Angel_Elle]

Thanks guys - damn nasty and certainly is contagious. Millys blister is all gone and Liam's is nearly gone as i can barely see anything and touch wood Dan hasn't got any and both the boys rash is nearly gone. So hopefully we over the worst and its gone.

[♥ Emsie ♥]

Harper had HF&M a few months ago. Three trips to the doctors within a week to reassess it but it was 7 days before the doctor said he was no longer contagious. Once the blisters are almost gone (ie dry. - don't have to have vanished ).

Definitely check in with your GP. Unfortunately it's one of those things that had to be waited out though.

[shelly1170]

Penny had HF&M just before Abi was born. Very mild and only a few blisters.

There was an outbreak at the girls' school here in Port Moresby in the middle of this year. Abi got it, again very mild and she was still eating rice crackers! Penny didn't get it so I guess despite being in another country, it was the same strain. Mind you, Penny is nicknamed "Typhoid Penny" because she'll get a sniffle and the rest of us will get the flu, or she'll have one loose bowel motion and the rest of us will get gastro!

Sorry! Just wanted to add one more thing...

Abi recently had a bout of impetigo or "school sores" (the joys of living in a tropical developing country). It started out like whiteheads or white filled blisters that then burst. She had it around and up her nose. It wasn't that painful but required a course of Keflex and Bactroban ointment to clear it up.

If you go to the doctor, they can do a swab. Impetigo is usually caused by a staph or strep infection. It's highly contagious amongst preschoolers but doesn't usually cause any problems.

[Angel_Elle]

Shelly the impetigo doesn't sound like fun hopefully you don't encounter that one again.

We have be warned from a few people to try not to let the kids play in the mud as being up in the tropics alot of bugs are in it...not an easy thing to especially as we are now in wet season. Also we are a small mining town with quite a few aboriginal communities so we have to stay on top of ensuring the kids regularly wash hands etc.