Recognizing severe hand, foot, and mouth disease requiring hospitalization.

Upon arriving at the Center for Tropical Diseases (National Children's Hospital) with a persistent high fever, numerous red rashes on her hands, feet, and mouth, and frequent startling, AN (26 months old, from Bac Giang) was diagnosed with hand, foot, and mouth disease, complicated by encephalitis.

Sharing a room with baby AN was baby MQ (12 months old, from Vinh Phuc). Two days before admission, baby MQ showed symptoms of high fever, fussiness, drooling, and poor appetite, but the parents thought it was just teething fever and didn't take her to the doctor. Only when the child started having seizures and vomiting frequently did the family rush her to the National Children's Hospital, where she was diagnosed with hand, foot, and mouth disease caused by the EV71 virus, with complications of encephalitis.

Caring for children with hand, foot, and mouth disease at the National Children's Hospital.

According to Dr. Do Thi Thuy Nga, Deputy Head of the General Internal Medicine Department at the Center for Tropical Diseases, there are two common complications of hand, foot, and mouth disease: neurological complications and respiratory and circulatory failure. However, this year, the center has received more children with neurological complications, the most typical of which is encephalitis.

According to Dr. Nguyen Van Lam, Director of the Center for Tropical Diseases at the National Children's Hospital, the two most common causative agents of hand, foot, and mouth disease are Coxsackie virus A16 (CA16) and Enterovirus 71 (EV71). While CA16 infections usually present with mild symptoms and can be managed and treated at home, EV71 causes more severe illness with dangerous complications such as encephalitis, meningitis, myocarditis, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, respiratory failure, and circulatory failure, which can be fatal if not treated promptly.

To detect hand, foot, and mouth disease early in children, according to health experts, the disease usually begins with symptoms such as fever, poor appetite, irritability, and sore throat. One to two days after the fever, sores appear in the mouth, causing pain and burning. Initially, these are red blisters that often develop into ulcers. These ulcers are mainly on the tongue, gums, and inside the cheeks. Along with this, a non-itchy rash appears within 1-2 days with flat or raised red lesions, some accompanied by blisters. The rash is usually concentrated on the palms or soles of the feet; it may also appear on the buttocks or genitals. Children may also have no typical symptoms or may only have a rash or mouth ulcers.

Doctors also noted how to detect early signs of worsening condition so that children can be taken to medical facilities promptly. Specifically, this includes when a child has a persistently high fever that does not respond to fever-reducing medication, accompanied by fatigue, lethargy, loss of appetite, excessive sleepiness, drowsiness, etc.; frequent startling (two or more times in 30 minutes); profuse sweating, cold body or hands and feet; rapid or abnormal breathing, including: apnea, shallow breathing, chest retraction, wheezing, etc.; tremors in the limbs and body, inability to sit steadily, and unsteady gait.

"Hand, foot, and mouth disease progresses rapidly and unpredictably, so when a child is found to have the disease, families should take them to medical facilities for advice on care, how to recognize severe symptoms, and thus receive timely treatment. Parents should not seek information online and self-medicate, as this can worsen the child's condition," health experts advise.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/nhan-biet-benh-tay-chan-mieng-muc-do-nang-can-nhap-vien-623463.html