Highly contagious hand-foot-and-mouth disease on the rise

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is making its rounds once more.

Forty-two reported cases are affecting children, some as young as 12 months old since the start of the year tells you it’s a highly contagious viral infection. 

Yet it's one no one seems to know about.

"I never heard of it but that’s pretty crazy. I hope everybody stays safe," Yigo resident Paul Eliam said. He had never heard of the disease. 

Dededo resident William Kho was also unsure saying, "I don’t know what kind of disease that is. It’s kind of..maybe.. I don’t know."

Department of Public Health and Social Services Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bob Leon Guerrero attributes the confusion to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"Part of the problem has been when COVID first started people were staying home and a lot of these viruses we commonly see in children were non-existent for 2019 to 2022," he said. 

The pandemic-era stay-at-home restrictions also kept childhood diseases at bay. 

An outbreak of RSV and the flu last year. This year, the respiratory illness running its course is hand foot and mouth disease. 

Health officials report 15 cases have been confirmed, while 27 others remain classified as suspected cases.

"Typically kids develop it when they're young. Especially kids that go to daycare centers," Leon Guerrero said. "They’re in constant contact. Like I said it's a very contagious virus. That’s the bad part. The good part is it's a mild disease typically."

With mild symptoms like fever, sore throat, and loss of appetite, he says it's not a serious disease. 

But as the name suggests, children could develop sores in their mouth and itchy red rashes on their hands, feet and butt. 

"The major problem most of these kids will have is painful sores in their mouth and they don’t want to eat or drink," Leon Guerrero said. "So moms and dads need to really really encourage them to eat and drink or else they will get dehydrated."

Parents should refrain from giving their children hot soup as that could irritate their sores, he said. Instead, Leon Guerrero suggests cold foods like ice cream and popsicles to get them hydrated. 

"Like with any infection, if they got the hand-foot-and-mouth disease, stay home, That decreases the risk of spreading it to your neighbors, your schoolmates, the kids in the daycare center," he said. 

Though the symptoms are mild, he reiterates it's highly contagious.