Typically we see children with some sores in and around the mouth and small blisters on the palms and soles. There are variations in presentation and sometimes children will have rash on other parts of their body as well. The buttocks are another common place for the rash. Fever is sometimes present and sometimes not.
If there is pain from the mouth lesions or fever, acetaminophen or ibuprofen can be used to make children more comfortable. There are no medications available which shorten the duration of the illness and most affected children have minimal discomfort.
The viruses which cause hand, foot, and mouth disease can also infect children without causing any symptoms at all. When symptoms do develop, children are contagious from before the rash starts and continuing for several weeks thereafter.
Because the contagious period lasts so long and there are likely to be other infected children in the class who have no symptoms, exclusion from daycare or school is generally not recommended because it is unlikely to have any effect on the spread of the disease.
So if your child has hand, foot, and mouth disease, there is no cause for alarm and he should get back to normal fairly soon without causing any undue risk to his classmates.
