Cases of Children with Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease in Southeast Nebraska

There have been a number of recent cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease in the Public Health Solutions Health District, which includes the southeastern Nebraska counties of Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Saline, and Thayer.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is most common in children under the age of five. Signs of infection can include fever, rash on the hands or feet, or sores in the mouth and throat. It is transmitted through nose and cough excretion, saliva, and frequently used surfaces. A carrier of the virus can spread the disease for up to two weeks, even without symptoms.

Kate Lange is the clinical services manager at the district’s health department and said if your child is infected, monitor their hydration because mouth sores can discourage eating and drinking.

“Most kiddos fully recover without any problems, so mostly (parents) should worry about dehydration in little kids who don’t want to eat or drink and that can cause problems,” she said. “Sometimes kiddos have to get I.V. fluids just to make up that difference of what they’re not taking in orally.”

Lange said in very rare cases hand, foot, and mouth disease can cause viral meningitis, which is the inflammation in the covering of the spinal cord and brain. There’s no specific treatment for the hand, mouth, and foot virus or viral meningitis.

Lange said people shouldn’t confuse hand, foot, and mouth disease with a different virus in cattle, sometimes called hoof and mouth disease.

It’s not known how many cases there are in the five-county health district but some daycares have reported cases, according to the health department.