hand foot and mouth disease question

zoeylove

so my LO went to the doctor today and she said she had hand foot and mouth disease .  She asked if she goes to daycare (she does) & then gave my husband a note saying it was okay for her to attend as long as she didn't have a temperature.  I was reading up on this and it seems like it is really contagious ... why would the doctor say it was ok for her to go?  Is there a point where she is no longer contagious ... she just started today with the rash a few blisters.  Also, can we get it?

mcgeeva

I get why not attend once the fever is passed. Maybe then it's no longer contagious since there is no medicine to be given for it. But the blisters in the mouth/hands etc can last over a week so I don't see keeping your lo home the whole time unless your lo is miserable. But me personally I would keep my lo home for a day or two. 

TeacherVicky

She is contagious as long as she has open sores, even if the fever has passed.

Yes, you can get it, though it's my understanding that your chances are much lower.

Slpafford

When DS had hand-foot-mouth we were told to leave him out of daycare for the entire week (we saw the doctor on a Sunday). He didn't have a fever at the time of the appointment either and they said to still keep him out because he was contagious even with no fever. Yes you can get it and apparently it is worse in adults, just keep washing your hands and you should be fine.

zoeylove

well we had seen the doctor last wed and she has been out of daycare since.  She will be out the rest of this week too not because of her but because of something going on with my daycare provider.  Anyway should she be ok to go back Monday of next week?  It must have been a mild case because she only had one or two sores on her hands and they are almost gone now.

MommyAtty

According to our pediatrician, the spots normally appear after they've stopped being contagious. Once they are fever-free, they are no longer contagious. Our preschool sent out a note on this a few weeks ago that included the same info. The AAP now doesn't recommend keeping kids out of school or daycare unless they have fever. https://www.healthychildcare.org/pdf/infdiseases/m3_handfoot.pdf

zoeylove

thank you

shepherdblue

A child at our daycare also had it, and apparently the doctor said that it was no longer contagious, because she came back. But this morning, my daughter had a couple of the blisters on her face. :-( It's possible that she caught it before the other child was taken out of daycare, but the pediatrician might have also given her the "okay" a little too soon. Luckily, my daughter's case doesn't seem too serious. 

MommyAtty

shepherdblue said:

A child at our daycare also had it, and apparently the doctor said that it was no longer contagious, because she came back. But this morning, my daughter had a couple of the blisters on her face. :-( It's possible that she caught it before the other child was taken out of daycare, but the pediatrician might have also given her the "okay" a little too soon. Luckily, my daughter's case doesn't seem too serious. 

According to our ped, the reason it's so contagious is because by the time symptoms appear, the affected kid has already infected everyone around them. I became something of an expert bc DD got it from goodness knows where (she wasn't in preschool or daycare) when DS was 2 weeks old. I was terrified. DS got it, but luckily his infection consisted of about 5 spots and 24 hours of a mild fever (under 100, so technically not even a fever).