Parents of Reynolds Secondary School students are being advised to keep their sick kids at home after a student fell ill with a confirmed case of hand, foot and mouth disease.
Island Health Medical Health Officer Dr. Murray Fyfe said the illness is a common virus and there is no cause for alarm.
“It’s usually more common in younger children like the preschool or elementary school age,” Fyfe said. “It’s not as common in high school.”
Symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, sores in the mouth, loss of appetite and a painless rash or blisters on the palms of hands, soles of feet or, occasionally, the buttocks, according to Island Health. Not everyone will get all of the symptoms.
The illness is contagious and can be passed to others through contact with the infected person’s saliva, mucus or feces.
Island Health said children are most contagious during the first week of the illness, but that the virus remains in feces and can sometimes spread for several weeks after the blisters and sores have healed. Medical authorities say blisters will heal better if they are left alone, and should not be popped.
Hand, foot and mouth disease can spread easily in child-care settings and in other places where children are close together, advises a HealthLink B.C. bulletin.
Washing hands well with running water and soap after nose blowing or using the toilet will help keep it from spreading.
“If your child is not feeling well, it is important to keep him or her home from school until the symptoms have stopped,” says a notice from Island Health sent to parents and guardians of students at the Saanich school.
Hand, foot, and mouth disease is often confused with foot and mouth disease — also known as hoof and mouth disease — which affects cattle, sheep and swine. However, the two diseases are not related.
