This post is also available in: Svenska

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a viral infection that causes blisters in the mouth and blisters or dark rashes on the hands and feet. Hence the name: hand, foot and mouth. And in Swedish, hand, foot and mouth disease is known as Autumn blisters, as the disease often becomes an epidemic in the autumn, especially among kindergarten children.

Explore our visual guide to children’s rashes and spots

Symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease

Fever, blisters in the mouth, and rashes or blisters on the hands and feet are typical symptoms of the disease. Rashes on the hands and feet can itch and hurt.

Symptoms of hand, foot and mouth blisters on the feet

The blisters in the mouth can hurt as well and may make eating difficult. Read more about what you can do to treat the blisters in and around the mouth in the blog post titled Mouth blisters in children.

Nails may fall off

Sometimes, after a child has blistered, there have been occurrences where the nails have fallen off. Blisters can form under the nails and cause the nails to fall off within a few weeks. It looks strange, but it’s not dangerous and normal nails will grow back.

The nails sometimes fall off within weeks of having the disease. But rest assured, new healthy nails are growing back.

Rare cases of meningitis

In rare cases, the virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease can also cause meningitis. It is often benign and transient. Symptoms include headache, sensitivity to light, nausea and manifests in whining. If your child has these symptoms, seek the pediatric emergency department.

How to treat hand, foot and mouth disease?

It is important that your child drinks plenty of fluid. If your child is in pain, you need to coax them with juice or ice cream. If your child does not drink, becomes dull and stops urinating, you need to seek the emergency room.

With the blisters on the hands and feet, you will just have to wait it out. Give acetaminophen or ibuprofen to ease the pain if the blisters hurt. There is no medication to treat hand, foot and mouth disease, so there is no need to see the doctor. If your child is alert and drinks fluids, no medical care is needed.

Hand, foot and mouth disease spread in kindergartens

Hand, foot and mouth disease is highly contagious. There is nothing you can do to prevent the infection in a preschool where an outbreak is taking place. Therefore, there is no medical reason to force children to stay at home if they are still able to participate in the daily activities at the preschool.

The incubation period for hand, foot and mouth disease is 3-7 days.