​Dermatology - Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease

​Dermatology - Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease 
The most frequent enteroviruses that cause hand, foot, and mouth illness are enterovirus 71 and coxsackie virus A16. In temperate climes, the fall and early summer months are when children under the age of ten are most typically afflicted. The virus is extremely contagious and spreads from person to person through the oral and fecal-oral pathways.

Children's painful oral mucosal sores often cause them to shun food. There may also be other moderate constitutional symptoms such as diarrhea, acute malaise, high fever, and joint pain. Lung involvement and CNS (aseptic meningitis, encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, flaccid paralysis) may be linked to EV17 infections.
Damage
Usually, 5–10 unpleasant, grayish vesicles in the oral mucosa ulcerate and cause pain. On the distal extremities, cutaneous lesions that may be painful and sensitive or asymptomatic develop soon after or simultaneously. The macules and papules that swiftly develop into vesicles make up the cutaneous exanthem, which is typically found on the palms and soles, particularly on the sides of the fingers, toes, and buttocks. These vesicles typically don't burst and may have a distinctive "linear" shape. Ruptures of vesicles can cause crusts and erosions at other cutaneous locations. Wounds resolve without leaving scars.

The diagnosis of a sudden breakout of lesions in the distal extremities and mouth is usually clinical, however the virus can also be identified from stool samples, vesicles, and throat washes. The differential includes HSV infection, aphthous stomatitis, herpangina, erythema multiforme, and adverse medication reaction if the oral lesions are the only ones seen.

Treatment for the virus is symptomatic and supportive since it is self-limiting.