About Herpangina in Children

Herpangina is a childhood condition that is most common in children ages 1 to 4, and is found most frequently during the summer months. It is a painful condition that can make children uncomfortable and unable to swallow for the better part of a week. Treatment normally consists of making the child as comfortable as possible while they are infected.

Identification

• Herpangina is a viral infection that strikes primarily children, and the virus can last for about one week. The infection causes small bumps in the back and along the roof of the mouth. It is normally accompanied by a fever, and the combination of symptoms normally leaves children irritable and uncomfortable. In more serious cases, the blisters appear on the outside of the mouth, and they might spread to the hands and feet as well.

Features

• Herpangina is normally transmitted through saliva, which is most commonly transmitted by mouth to mouth contact. The virus can also be picked us as a result of contact with an infected person's fecal matter. It takes up to six days for the condition to show symptoms after the virus has been contracted.
  The condition causes a sore throat that can make eating solid foods extremely painful, and for this reason most children opt to not eat solid foods when they contract herpangina. Drinking liquids, especially cold milk, is tolerable and preferred.

Diagnosis

• To diagnose herpangina, a doctor might rely on the medical history of the child to see whether any previous infections have been found, but since the blisters caused by herpangina are extremely unique a doctor is normally able to diagnose the condition by visual investigation of the blisters.

Treatment

• Since herpangina is a viral infection, it cannot be treated with antibiotics. Treatments for the condition center around treating the symptoms and increasing the intake of fluids. In some cases, treatments are used to decrease the temperature caused by the fever and relieve any pain being caused by the infection. Eventually the condition will run its course and dissipate.

Prevention/Solution

• Doctors recommend frequent hand washing during summer to help decrease the chances of a child contracting herpangina. It is important to note that a child infected with the virus can still transmit it regardless of how clean they are, so while washing the hands can be effective in reducing the possibility that a child will contract the disease it does not prevent other children from getting it from an infected child.