* HFMD *

Sometime last year, E's mum called me relating her suspicions of E's little red spots on her palms and feet and few ulcers in her mouth. True enough the doctor confirmed it was HFMD ~ Hand Foot and Mouth Disease.

How??? Suspect from school which upon investigations already had few students absent with similar symptoms. Yet the parents of the other kids were not informed hence the quick spread amongst them little E who was then 4 years old.

Immediate googling was first to learn about the disease, the signs & symptoms, the effects, the possibilities of what was coming, the oncoming suffering if not treated properly, the severe contagious effect on others and sadly, the deaths of some unfortunate children where it led to more critical areas.

E's mum's group of mummies shared experiences and knowledge on care and treatment. Unfortunately for HFMD, there is no medical treatment but relieve medications. So here is what we did so all parents and guardians will keep in mind for future if ever. Touch wood!

Signs & symptoms

   : Visual - Little red spots on palms and soles of feet and buttocks appearing. Some would become tiny water spots and if broken, blister quite badly if not taken care of properly.
   : Oral -  Ulcers will appear in the mouth, the walls of the inside cheeks, tongue and back of throat making it uncomfortable to eat or swallow.
   : Fever - A few days earlier before the spots appear but not in all cases.

As there is no medical treatment such as antibiotics etc at this initial stage, a series of relieving medicines will be given to help with the eventual itching of the spots and loss of appetite due to the ulcers. Hence, Calamine lotion or cream for the spots, a round of anti histamine to prevent from feeling itchy and reduce the child from scratching and some oral gel or spray or paste for the mouth ulcers.

Some of the mummies stories had them relating nightmares of crying kids complaining of itch and pains from bleeding blisters and bad mouth ulcers to the point of not eating nor drinking as it was too painful to swallow. Then some learnt to do something else to help prevent the HFMD to become full blown and that is the Kington Isotonic from Elken. http://www.elken.com.my/features_kington
Before anything else is mentioned, I am not an Elken member nor am I trying to promote for Elken but merely sharing the product we have used for the kids at this time. Also read here for more info on this isotonic. http://www.originalquinton.com/ and http://www.plasmaquinton.com/

One of its features is to boost your immune system  and we gave the kids these twice a day. Although the HFMD spots and ulcers were still there but there were very little new spots since and within one and a half days, the kids were able to eat anything especially their favourite foods. The little boost helped combat the onslaught of the virus and it managed not to go full blown as expected! Both E and B hardly suffered any pains apart from the slight irritable itch which were subdued with anti histamines. Day two they ate almost anything without a qualm. You wouldn't even know they were sick cos they were happily playing and chatting like any other day. B hardly had more than 20 spots on her entire body!

We kept a strict regiment of cleaning our hands as often and necessary as possible until today, no sharing of utensils and clothings, cleanliness was the utmost importance till today and kept them indoors as it was very contagious. They were so normal that you would forget they were infected with HFMD.

These days, there's stock of these ampoules on my shelf in case the kids show signs of falling sick and mum would advise a dose to fight whatever flu or cold hovering and it works! Parents and guardians, expensive these may be, they do help... especially your little child. It may not cure but it will not let it go worse unless of course it is a stubborn strain.

This is one of the nanny experiences I am happily sharing with you. It's been tried, tested and proven effective. J was diagnosed with HFMD yesterday and upon discovering the spots the night before, I had immediately given her a dose. Her spots were pale in colour compared to the previous night. She had no fever and till last night, no complaint of itching except for the ulcers on her tongue hurting when she ate. BUT, they hurt when she had to eat things she did not like. Hahaha

She's now on a twice daily dose for a few days and soon will reduce to one a day if there is marked improvement. So far there has not been any new spots and she's running about like nothing is wrong except that she's highly contagious and can't go out.

So my dear friends, read up on the links here, familiarise on the signs and symptoms and check out with your friends on the isotonic. My experience, it is a boost to a quick and less painful recovery.

Have a great weekend. ;)

http://www.asiananews.org/?q=node/73
http://www.hand-foot-mouth-disease.com/children-under-3-years-old-need-to-guard-against-hand-foot-mouth-disease.html
http://www.sarawak.health.gov.my/hfmd.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/Ncidod/EID/vol9no1/02-0112.htm