Anyone have Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease at their preschool?

[BDIAS]

Has anyone had any students in their children's school with this disease? There were two students last week that have now been taken out of the preschool where my boy goes.

[thesicks13]

I am sure there are loads. Our pre-school has been closed once due to a bad outbreak and we have how voluntarily taken our daughter out as there is another outbreak and we are expecting no 2 anytime now!

[boffenl]

It happens quite frequently. My daughter's place was closed for a week last year. She has never had HFMD (knock on wood, fingers crossed) and we follow strict handwashing routine at home--MUST WASH hands for one minute--say the ABC's--with soap and DRY them.

Just be observant, my daughter's day care had morning temp check and hand and feet check--everyday! I think that seriously reduced the recurrence.

Good luck!

[JimH5]

Yes, we had the HFMD outbreak out our preschool.

Now, each day, each kid gets checked for fever, mouth & hand ulcers, and they get a squirt of hand sanitizer.

We're diligent about hand washing at home, before eating, after using the restroom, etc.

I guess it's pretty unavoidable. Just try to make sure your child is well hydrated and well rested during healthy and sick times.

[cbavasi]

the thing about HFMD is it has many different symptoms and by the time you realize that you're little one has it - they've already spread it to others. my youngest (20 months) just came down with it and had a rash on her bottom and ulcers on the back of her throat. no fever, no spots on the hands/feet. there are several places i can think of that she may have contracted it - kids club, indoor ball pits, and also her brother's school (several cases in the last couple of months). my eldest has been in direct contact with at least a dozen children since he was born (and now his sister) and has never contracted it. we are diligent about hand washing - but it's difficult when the little ones are always sticking other people's toys in their mouths. if you notice that your child is drooling a lot, off their food, has a rash or complains of sore throat - visit the doctor & try and isolate them from other children. we've been doing that with my little one - poor thing has been quarantined for 10 days now... but better she has a few boring days than someone else contracts the virus!

[Callalily]

My twins had it recently. I must say that I was absolutely petrified of FHMD but it was actually very mild. I am suspecting that ds1 had it first but was so mild I didn't notice anything... no fever, no ulcers, carried on eating ok. He had spots on his bum but I thought they were heat related. He also had 2 small spots on one foot. It is only when the second twin came down with it that I realised what it was. He had more obvious symptoms(fever, ulcers, 3 spots in total on feet, and about 4 on hands, really minuscule ones but similar to what ds 1 had!). It is a very contagious disease but generally mild. It is really difficult to control.

[langkawi]

This is the saddest story that I have ever read. It's about this local boy raiyan who caught the hfmd and because of it his lungs collapsed and his trachea was blocked, so he couldnt speak.

And his family was too broke for him to go for an operation so they appealed to a few of the local media, which ran their story, but they hardly recieved any monetary support! And then thankfully one of the local hospitals stepped up to the plate and offered to do the surgery probono...

Here's the article, there's a youtube video at the bottom.

So so sad...

http://sg.theasianparent.com/articles/H ... iyans_Hope

[June_Koh]

My own kids was down with HFMD and you're right, healthcare costs in Singapore is really expensive if you want them to be treated comfortably. My boy was hospitalised for 1 week and the total costs comes up to around $4000+, that's excluding follow-ups and all! My company does not cater for my kids' medical care but thankfully the full costs were borne by my insurance agent. The local boy you were talking about is just one of many other examples of how healthcare costs in Singapore can kill

[Elise17]

Both my kids contracted it TWICE this year, and my son goes to a pre-school that has only 6 kids in his class! My family doctor says that there are numeroud strains and immunity is usually only around 3 months post-infection. I have a couple of friends with infants who aren't going to pre-school other than the weekly accompanied play program and even then they've caught it. Seems it's really endemic in Singapore.