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Article: Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease
- Article from:
- Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy throughAdolescence
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Thomson Gale. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Hand-foot-mouth disease
Definition
Hand-foot-mouth disease is an infection of young children in which characteristic fluid-filled blisters appear on the hands, feet, and inside the mouth.
Description
Coxsackie viruses belong to a family of viruses called enteroviruses. These viruses live in the gastrointestinal tract and are, therefore, present in feces. They can be spread easily from one person to another when poor hygiene allows the virus within the feces to be passed from person to person. After exposure to the virus, development of symptoms takes only four to six days. Hand-foot-mouth disease can occur year-round, although the largest number of cases are in summer and fall ...