When is hands foot and mouth not contagious

Dispose of used tissues in the bin straight away. Wash your hands afterwards with soap and water and thoroughly dry them, if handwashing facilities are not available use an alcohol based sanitiser or antibacterial wipe to clean hands. Keep sick children at home while unwell. How is it diagnosed? How is it treated? Usually no treatment is needed. Paracetamol will relieve fever and discomfort. Do not give children aspirin.

Allow blisters to dry out naturally. The blisters should not be deliberately burst because the fluid within them is infectious. Make sure young children are drinking enough, as painful mouth sores can make some children reluctant to swallow liquids. What are the signs of a serious infection? How long should children stay away from childcare and school? Children with hand, foot and mouth disease should be excluded from school or childcare facilities until their blisters have dried-up, and any rash if present has gone and any fever has settled.

What is the public health response? Further information For further information please call your local public health unit on Hand, foot and mouth disease is easily passed on to other people. It's spread in coughs, sneezes, poo and the fluid in the blisters. You can start spreading it from a few days before you have any symptoms, but you're most likely to spread it to others in the first 5 days after symptoms start.

But as soon as they're feeling better, they can go back to school or nursery. There's no need to wait until all the blisters have healed. Keeping your child away from other children for longer is unlikely to stop the illness spreading.

Swish and gargle the mixture 2 to 3 times a day, as needed. Do not let your child swallow the salt water; have him spit it out. To prevent spreading HFMD: Teach your child not to touch the rash, avoid putting his fingers or toys in his mouth, and not rub his eyes.

Teach your child to sneeze or cough into a tissue or his or her shirt sleeve. Wash your hands with soap and water often. Wash after touching the rash, going to the bathroom, before handling food, before eating, and after changing a diaper. Also, teach your child to wash his or her hands often. Disinfect bathrooms, toys, and other objects that your child touches with soap and water, or other household disinfectant.

The virus can live on these things for days. Do not share drinking cups, eating utensils, napkins, or personal items like towels and brushes.

Avoid hugging and kissing a child who is infected. Hand, foot, and mouth disease is caused by viruses. A person infected with one of these viruses is contagious, which means that they can pass the virus to other people. People with hand, foot, and mouth disease are usually most contagious during the first week that they are sick. People can sometimes spread the virus to others for days or weeks after symptoms go away or if they have no symptoms at all.

Rarely, you can also get the viruses by swallowing recreational water, such as water in swimming pools. This can happen if the water is not properly treated with chlorine and becomes contaminated with feces from a person who has hand, foot, and mouth disease. Hand, foot, and mouth disease is caused by viruses that belong to the Enterovirus family.