Many children have complications of encephalitis and neuropathy due to hand, foot and mouth disease caused by the EV71 virus strain.

Nearly 1/3 of cases infected with EV71 strain

Baby AN (26 months, Bac Giang) had a high fever that did not go down, many red rashes appeared on his hands, feet and mouth, and he was easily startled, so his mother took him to the National Children's Hospital for examination and diagnosed him with hand, foot and mouth disease, with complications of encephalitis.

AN's mother shared: "At the beginning of the year, my child had hand, foot and mouth disease, but after a few days of treatment at home, he was cured. So this time when he got sick again, I didn't think it would be so serious. Luckily, he was treated promptly, so now he is awake and stable again."

Also being treated at the National Children's Hospital for complications of hand, foot and mouth disease, baby MQ (12 months old, Vinh Phuc), was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease strain EV71, which also developed into encephalitis. Previously, due to subjectivity, the family thought baby Q. had a teething fever so they did not take the child to the doctor early.

According to a representative of the National Children's Hospital, since the beginning of the year, the hospital has received more than 1,200 children with hand, foot and mouth disease for examination; nearly 500 children had to be hospitalized for treatment. Of these, 20% - 30% of cases of hand, foot and mouth disease are caused by infection with the EV71 virus strain.

Common complications of hand, foot and mouth disease are neurological complications, respiratory failure, and circulatory failure. However, this year, the hospital has received more children with neurological complications, the most typical of which is encephalitis. Children admitted to the hospital are often alert, without much cognitive disturbance, but show signs of being startled, especially at the beginning and end of sleep; in addition, there are also symptoms of limb tremors, staggering, etc.

Dr. Nguyen Van Lam, Director of the Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children's Hospital, said: "There are two common groups of agents that cause hand, foot and mouth disease: Coxsackie virus A16 (CA16) and Enterovirus 71 (EV71). In which, cases infected with CA16 often have mild symptoms and can be cared for and treated at home; while the EV71 virus strain often causes more severe illness with many dangerous complications such as: encephalitis, meningitis, myocarditis, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, respiratory failure, circulatory failure, which can cause death if not treated promptly."

Closely monitor for severe symptoms

Dr. Do Thien Hai, Deputy Director of the Center for Tropical Diseases, National Children's Hospital, warns: Some children with hand, foot and mouth disease only have a few symptoms such as mouth ulcers or small bumps on the buttocks or groin. If the family does not pay attention, it will be very difficult to detect. Most children with the disease have a mild course, however, if not detected and treated promptly, the disease can also have many dangerous complications such as: shock, encephalitis, meningitis, myocarditis, acute pulmonary edema, and even death.

Therefore, when detecting that a child has hand, foot and mouth disease, the family should take the child to a medical facility for advice on how to care for the child, how to detect severe symptoms so that the child can be treated promptly. They should not research online and then arbitrarily use medicine, which can make the child's illness worse.

Accordingly, children with mild hand, foot and mouth disease can only be treated at home when they have skin lesions with or without fever. At the same time, parents must be fully instructed on how to care for children with hand, foot and mouth disease; ways to detect early signs of worsening so that they can take their children to a medical facility promptly.

The doctor also noted that when children with hand, foot and mouth disease show signs of worsening, parents need to immediately take their children to a medical facility for timely treatment to avoid serious complications. Specifically, children with hand, foot and mouth disease show signs of worsening when they have symptoms such as: Continuous high fever that does not respond to antipyretics; fatigue, not playing, not eating, sleeping a lot, lethargy...; children startle a lot (2 times or more in 30 minutes); children sweat, have cold all over their body or hands and feet; children breathe rapidly, breathe abnormally such as: apnea, shallow breathing, chest retraction, wheezing...; children have trembling limbs, body tremors, can't sit still, walk unsteadily...

In particular, according to doctors, there is currently no vaccine or specific medicine to treat hand, foot and mouth disease. Each time a child is infected, they only produce antibodies to a certain type of virus. Therefore, children can still get hand, foot and mouth disease again if they are infected with another virus in the Enterovirus group. Therefore, people must always pay attention to disease prevention for children and prevent infection in the community.

To prevent hand, foot and mouth disease, people need to wash their hands regularly with soap under running water many times a day; for adults, they need to wash their hands thoroughly before holding children, before preparing food, before eating or feeding children, and after going to the toilet and after changing diapers for children.

People should eat cooked food and drink boiled water, and wash eating utensils thoroughly before use.

Adults should not feed children; do not let children eat with their hands, suck their fingers, suck on toys, share handkerchiefs, eating utensils and toys without sterilization. At the same time, in the family, regularly clean surfaces and tools that are in daily contact such as: toys, school supplies, doorknobs, table tops, chairs, floors, stair handrails... with soap or common detergents. In particular, do not let children come into contact with people who are sick or suspected of having hand, foot and mouth disease to avoid infection.

Common symptoms in children with hand, foot and mouth disease:

- Children have fever, poor appetite, discomfort, sore throat.

- One to two days after the fever begins, painful blisters appear in the mouth. They start as red blisters and often develop into ulcers, mainly on the tongue, gums, and inside the cheeks.

- A non-itchy rash appears over 1 to 2 days as flat or raised red lesions, some with blisters. The rash is usually concentrated on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet, and may also appear on the buttocks or genitals.

- Children may also have no typical symptoms or may only have a rash or mouth ulcers.

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper