Coxsackievirus | Find Me A Cure

Alternative Name: Coxsackievirus infection

Definition:
Hand-foot-mouth disease is a relatively common infection viral infection that usually begins in the throat.

A similar infection is herpangina.

Many people panic when they’re told they have hand, foot and mouth disease. They think they’ve got the infection that affects cattle, sheep and pigs, but the animal infection is called foot-and-mouth disease and is completely unrelated.

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It is a mild, contagious viral infection common in young children. Characterized by sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet, hand-foot-and-mouth disease is most commonly caused by a coxsackievirus.

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There’s no specific treatment for hand-foot-and-mouth disease. You can reduce your risk of infection from hand-foot-and-mouth disease by practicing good hygiene, such as washing your hands often and thoroughly

Symptoms:
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease may cause all of the following signs and symptoms or just some of them. They include:

*Feeling of being unwell (malaise)
*Painful, red, blister-like lesions on the tongue, gums and inside of the cheeks
*A red, nonitchy, possibly blistery rash on palms of the hands and soles of the feet, and sometimes the buttocks
*Irritability in infants and toddlers
*Fever
*Headache
*Loss of appetite
*Rash with very small blisters on hands, feet, and diaper area; may be tender or painful if pressed
*Sore throat
*Ulcers in the throat (including tonsils), mouth, and tongue

The usual period from initial infection to the onset of signs and symptoms (incubation period) is three to seven days. A fever is often the first sign of hand-foot-and-mouth disease, followed by a sore throat and sometimes a poor appetite and malaise. One or two days after the fever begins, painful sores may develop in the mouth or throat. A rash on the hands and feet and possibly on the buttocks can follow within one or two days.

Causes:
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) is most commonly caused by coxsackievirus A16, a member of the enterovirus family.

The disease is not spread from pets, but it can be spread by person to person. You may cacth it if you come into direct contact with nose and throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the stools of an infected person. You are most contagious the first week you have the disease.

The time between infection and the development of symptoms is about 3 – 7 days.

Oral ingestion is the main source of coxsackievirus infection and hand-foot-and-mouth disease. The illness spreads by person-to-person contact with nose and throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the stool of someone with the infection. The virus can also spread through a mist of fluid sprayed into the air when someone coughs or sneezes.

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is most common in children in child care settings because of frequent diaper changes and potty training, and because little children often put their hands in their mouths.

Although your child is most contagious with hand-foot-and-mouth disease during the first week of the illness, the virus can remain in his or her body for weeks after the signs and symptoms are gone. That means your child still can infect others.

Some people, particularly adults, can pass the virus without showing any signs or symptoms of the disease.

Outbreaks of the disease are more common in summer and autumn in the United States and other temperate climates. In tropical climates, outbreaks occur year-round.

Risk Factors:
The most important risk factor is age. The infection occurs most often in children under age 10, but can be seen in adolescents and occasionally adults.

Children in child care centers are especially susceptible to outbreaks of hand-foot-and-mouth disease because the infection spreads by person-to-person contact, and young children are the most susceptible.

Children usually develop immunity to hand-foot-and-mouth disease as they get older by building antibodies after exposure to the virus that causes the disease. However, it’s possible for adolescents and adults to get the disease

Diagnosis:
A history of recent illness and a physical examination, demonstrating the characteristic vesicles on the hands and feet, are usually sufficient to diagnose the disease.

However the doctor will likely be able to distinguish hand-foot-and-mouth disease from other types of viral infections by evaluating:

*The age of the affected person
*The pattern of signs and symptoms
*The appearance of the rash or sores
*A throat swab or stool specimen may be taken and sent to the laboratory to determine which virus caused the illness.(this test may not always needed)

Treatment:
There is no specific treatment for the infection other than relief of symptoms.Most people need no specific medical treatment and are better within a week or so. Complications are rare, but occasionally it can lead to mild viral meningitis.

Treatment with antibiotics is not effective, and is not indicated. Over-the-counter medicines, such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) can be used to treat fever. Aspirin is no longer recommended for children under 16, because of a possible link with a serious problem called Reye’s syndrome.

Salt water mouth rinses (1/2 teaspoon of salt to 1 glass of warm water) may be soothing if the child is able to rinse without swallowing. Make sure your child gets plenty of fluids. Extra fluid is needed when a fever is present. The best fluids are cold milk products. Many children refuse juices and sodas because their acid content causes burning pain in the ulcers.

You can also try giving them soft cold foods such as yoghurt or ice cream, and plenty of cold drinks, to ease the discomfort of a soft mouth.

Children are sometimes excluded from nursery or school during the first few days of the illness in an attempt to prevent it spreading, but this can be difficult as the viruses that cause it are widespread in the community.

Prognosis: Generally, complete recovery occurs in 5 to 7 days.

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.This is purely for educational purpose.

Resources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/handfootmouth.shtml
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hand-foot-and-mouth-disease/DS00599
http://healthtools.aarp.org/adamcontent/hand-foot-mouth-disease?CMP=KNC-360I-GOOGLE-HEA&HBX_PK=hand_foot_mouth_disease&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=hand%2Bfoot%2Bmouth%2Bdisease&utm_campaign=G_Diseases%2Band%2BConditions&360cid=SI_148905163_5812331101_1

http://www.hpb.gov.sg/health_articles/hfmd/

Hand Foot Mouth Disease : What is it ?

Foot-and-mouth disease: Senseless killing (economist.com)
Foot and mouth disease may spread through shedding skin cells (eurekalert.org)
Foot and mouth disease may spread through shedding skin cells (scienceblog.com)
New study reveals when livestock can transmit foot-and-mouth disease (medicalxpress.com)
Hand, foot and mouth disease claims six lives (lookatvietnam.com)
Recent outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease near Matsiloje may have originated in Zimbabwe (gabzfmnews.wordpress.com)
Is peeling a sign of dry skin? (zocdoc.com)
New study reveals when livestock can transmit foot-and-mouth disease (eurekalert.org)
You: Foot and mouth is ‘detectable’ (guardian.co.uk)

Bornholm Disease

Alternative Name : Epidemic pleurodynia,Sylvest’s disease , epidemic benign dry pleurisy,Bamble disease, the devil’s grip, devil’s grippe, epidemic myalgia, epidemic pleurodynia, epidemic transient diaphragmatic spasm or The Grasp of the Phantom

Definition:
Bornholm disease is a temporary illness that is a result of virus infection. The disease features fever and intense abdominal and chest pains with headache. The chest pain is typically worsened by breathing or coughing. The illness usually lasts from 3 to 14 days.

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The most common virus causing Bornholm disease is an enterovirus called Coxsackie B.

Group B coxsackieviruses are transmitted from person to person by fecal-oral contamination or direct mouth to mouth contact. Other people become infected with the virus if they touch contaminated items then put their fingers in their mouth before washing them properly. Contaminated items can include soiled diapers, shared toys and toilets.

Bornholm disease is also called epidemic myalgia and pleurodynia (because of inflammation of the lining tissue of the lungs).

Epidemic pleurodynia is contagious and occurs in clusters, meaning many people in an area get it around the same time. Up to 90% of epidemics occur in the summer and early fall. The illness most commonly strikes people younger than age 30, although older people also may be affected.

Coxsackie B virus is spread by contact and epidemics usually occur during warm weather in temperate regions and at any time in the tropics. As is typical with this virus family, it is shed in large amounts in the feces of infected persons. The disease can be spread by sharing drink containers, and has been contracted by laboratory personnel working with the virus

The disease is named after the Danish island where the first documented cases arose.

In 1872, Daae-Finsen reported an epidemic of “acute muscular rheumatism” occurring in a community called Bamble, giving rise to the name “Bamble disease” in Norway. Subsequent reports, published only in Norwegian, referred to the disease by this name. In 1933, Ejnar Sylvest gave a doctoral thesis describing a Danish outbreak of this disease on Bornholm Island entitled, “Bornholm disease-myalgia epidemica”, and this name has persisted

Symptoms:
The sudden onset of fever and pain occurs about four days after infection. Flu-like symptoms may be experienced during this incubation period.

There is pain in the chest or upper abdomen, usually on one side. It varies in intensity, but is often described as stabbing, or ‘grip-like’. The pain is spasmodic, lasting for 15 to 30 minutes at a time. Coughing, sneezing and sudden movements can make it worse.

The symptoms usually last about one to two days in children and about two to six days in adults. Sometimes, the pain and fever return after a day or two.

On rare occasions, there are several recurrences of pain and fever over a period of three weeks or more.

Complications are rare, but include inflammation of the testes (orchitis) or the heart (pericarditis, myocarditis), and meningitis.

Cause:
Inoculation of throat washings taken from people with Bornholm disease into the brains of newborn mice revealed that enteroviruses in the Coxsackie B virus group were likely to be the cause of Bornholm disease, and those findings were supported by subsequent studies of IgM antibody responses measured in serum from people with Bornholm disease. Other viruses in the enterovirus family, including echovirus and Coxsackie A virus, are infrequently associated with Bornholm disease.

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Diagnosis:
Diagnosis is commonly simplified in an epidemic, although different causes of acute chest and abdominal pain must be excepted. Your doctor may push on muscles in your chest to notice if the pressure actuate a spasm of pain. Often, your doctor can examine the difficulty without any specific tests, particularly if there is an outbreak of the disease in your area. The infection from time to time disperse to cause inflammation in other organs, including the pleura (membrane surrounding the lungs), lungs, heart, liver, brain and testes.

Treatment :
The illness lasts about a week and is rarely fatal. Treatment includes the administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents or the application of heat to the affected muscles. Relapses during the weeks following the initial episode are a characteristic feature of this disease.Painkillers and drugs can be used to reduce the fever.

The best treatment of Bornholm Disease is terminate bed rest, and fever and pain can be decreased by paracetamol for children or aspirin for adults. Recovery in uncomplicated cases is commonly finish within a week. Here is the list of several of the preclusion tips or tips for treating Bornholm Disease:

*People of any age may be involved although it frequently pretend people under the age of 30.
*Intravenous immune globulin may be utilised to treat newborns and those with a decreased immune system.

Prognosis:
Almost all generally healthy individuals recover completely from pleurodynia. However, about 5% of people develop acute viral meningitis as a complication of the coxsackievirus infection, and about 5% of adult males develop orchitis. Less common complications include hepatitis, pericarditis and myocarditis.

Prevention:
The viruses that cause epidemic pleurodynia can spread very easily among young children, who tend to put toys or fingers into their mouth. The disease is most likely to spread in day care centers. The best way to prevent infection is to wash hands thoroughly, especially before meals or after changing a diaper or using the bathroom. There is no vaccine to prevent pleurodynia.

Resources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/bornholmdisease1.shtml
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtPrint/WSIHW000/9339/24698.html?hide=t&k=basePrint
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bornholm_disease

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2914192/what_is_bornholm_disease.html

http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Coxsackie-Virus-Infection.htm

http://www.health-issues.org/rare-diseases/bornholm-disease.htm