Introduction
Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease is common in children under the age of 5. This disease is transmitted through an infected person’s nose, mouth, or throat droplets (Jiang et al., 2021). It may be passed to others by direct contact or indirectly when people touch things with hand, foot, and mouth droplets on them, such as sharing food utensils, playing with toys that someone with HFM has touched, and coughing or sneezing on others. Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease can affect anyoone due to its contagious nature.
The incidence rate of HFM in children under five was found in the Rural Health Information Hub. Using CDC’s Epicurve Excel Spreadsheet. I plotted a graph and calculated the incubation period from the graph. The Epi curve is shown in Excel Spreedsheet, where it is evident that there are peaks during February and March, which are when HFM is most commonly transmitted.
Response to the Given Questions
There is an increase in the number of confirmed cases, and the curve has a steep slope. This increase in cases over time is common with most infectious diseases, especially those spread person-to-person.
The incubation period is the time from exposure to the onset of symptoms. This disease has an incubation period of nine days from exposure to onset of symptoms, ranging from four-28 days. However, the incubation period of this disease cannot be determined in real life because it is not constant and varies from person to person depending on factors such as the individual’s age, duration from possible exposure to getting sick, immune system status, and more. Incidence Rate: 0 Per 100,000 Populations (Saguil et al., 2018). The case is very rampant when one person is infected and mingles with others.
The Epi curve is mostly concave upward, which means that it is increasing over time.
I would use the Confirmed, Probable and Possible cases by age to create my Epi curve using the steps below:
- Steps of an outbreak investigation;
- Step 1: Construct a table of cases.
- Step 2: Calculate the probability and count
- Step 3: Calculate the incubation period
- Step 4: Determine the Epi Curve based on relevant factors using Table 2. (For this example, use the columns labeled confirmed, probable and possible cases for the age-specific information). 4th step- Using steps 1-4 above, I would use this data to answer all questions in my investigation.
- Step 5: Determine the primary reproductive ratio using the Confirmed, Probable and Possible cases by age. Using steps 1-5 above, I would use this data to answer all questions in my investigation.
- Step 6: Determine the primary reproductive ratio using the Confirmed, Probable and Possible cases by age.
- Step 7: Determine the primary reproductive ratio using the Confirmed, Probable and Possible cases by age.
There are no known preventative measures to reduce risk of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, but there are recommendations to decrease transmission. The first recommendation is to cover any mouth or nose that comes in contact with a patient’s mouth or nose. The virus is spread by droplet transmission and direct contact (Yang et al., 2020). The second one recomends that the surfaces and materials that have been contaminated with respiratory secretions should be disinfected using 0.5% bleach solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts water) and allowed to dry (Yang et al., 2020). A new pair of gloves should be worn before performing procedures or examinations on the patient. Surfaces and materials should be disinfected after use (Jiang et al., 2021). All of these recommendations will help reduce the transmission of this disease in an outbreak.
Hand washing stations should also be available in all areas where people come together to help limit hand-to-mouth contact. Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease is highly contagious and affects children five years or younger. The main symptoms are fever and rash. The virus tends to affect the salivary glands, which can cause people to have difficulty swallowing food or speaking. Other symptoms include ulcers in the mouth, painful urination, and feces. A virus causes hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, but doctors cannot tell by looking at a person whether they have it or not (Saguil et al., 2018). This can only be confirmed with a laboratory test of samples of the patient’s blood or saliva. Antibiotics are ineffective against viruses and are not used to treat the disease.
In 2007 China implemented the “One Cent Campaign”, which is a program that requires all visitors to national parks to pay a one-cent fee when entering through gates. These funds are used to maintain trails, improve toilets and water quality, plant trees and provide parking areas (Zhang et al., 2020). The campaign is effective because it is simple and effective, but not beneficial to the environment because of all the plastic waste buried in the ground. Global warming plays a significant role in climate change, and when there are more extreme weather events, humans experience more impact. For example, China experiences milder summers and winters than before, resulting in more extreme air pollution. Air pollution has affected China’s environment since 2016 (Brooks et al., 2018). This year’s pollution levels have been extremely high, which resulted in thousands of deaths.
There is no specific treatment for Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease besides managing the symptoms that come along with it. Antiviral medication can be given if the virus has not spread beyond the mouth area (Brooks et al., 2018). It is essential not to give the patient any fever medication because it “may interfere with viral replication and intensify symptoms” (Jiang et al., 2021). Patients suffering from HFM should be kept in isolation until they completely recover from their symptoms. If a patient is suspected of having HFM, they should avoid any person with the disease, even if they appear all right.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease is caused by the highly contagious virus “Rhinoviruses.” The virus is spread person-to-person during sharing utensils, cups, or eating utensils. The incubation period of the disease is 10 to 21 days. There are no preventative measures for the virus; however, there are recommendations that can help decrease transmission. There are no specific treatments for the disease besides managing symptoms. Children under five years of age should be kept in isolation to avoid spreading the disease. Hand washing stations should be available to help prevent hand-to-mouth contact. Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease is more prevalent in children; however, adults can also get the disease. Physicians should be aware of the symptoms that indicate the possibility of HFM. Antiviral medication can be given if the patient has not spread to other parts of their body.
References
Brooks D. K., M. D., Downing, C., & Tyring, S. (2018). Hand-foot-and-mouth disease caused by coxsackievirus A6 on the rise. Cutis, 102, 353-356.
Jiang, L., Jiang, H., Tian, X., Xia, X., & Huang, T. (2021). Epidemiological characteristics of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Yunnan Province, China, 2008–2019. BMC infectious diseases, 21(1), 1-8.
Li, X. W., Ni, X., Qian, S. Y., Wang, Q., Jiang, R. M., Xu, W. B.,… & Yang, T. (2018). Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of hand, foot and mouth disease (2018 edition). World Journal of Pediatrics, 14(5), 437-447.
Saguil, A., Kane, S. F., Lauters, R., & Mercado, M. G. (2019). Hand-foot-and-mouth disease: rapid evidence review. American family physician, 100(7), 408-414.
Yang, Z., Hao, J., Huang, S., Yang, W., Zhu, Z., Tian, L.,… & Liu, S. (2020). Acute effects of air pollution on the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Wuhan, China. Atmospheric Environment, 225, 117358.