Hand-foot-and-mouth disease shows up in Lodi, but Lodi Unified says it's not cause for alarm

Apr. 6—When Noemi Raya learned this week that a student at Beckman Elementary School was diagnosed with hand-foot-and-mouth disease, she feared for her child's health.

Raya said Beckman principal Gina Azevedo alerted parents at the school that one student was confirmed to be diagnosed with the disease Tuesday.

Azevedo told parents the child went home sick Friday and had not been to campus since that time, adding the classroom to which they were assigned had been thoroughly cleaned.

But Raya believes the school and the district should have warned parents last week when the student left early.

Upon learning of the diagnosis, Raya said she went to Beckman to remove her child from campus, along with several other parents.

"Someone was sick, and the principal sent an email," Raya said. "I went to pull my child out of school, and the vice principal wouldn't let him out for 20 minutes. He said everything was fine. It's not fine."

Paul Warren, Lodi Unified School District's director of student services, said staff was unaware of students not being allowed to leave campus.

He added that school staff and district officials were not made aware of the official

diagnosis until Tuesday morning, but parents should not be alarmed about the diagnosis.

"We're working with the principal, the teacher and the school nurse to make sure the room in question is completely clean and safe for students to enter," he said. "Typically, we don't make an announcement about an illness unless there are at least three confirmed cases, but we made one today out of an abundance of caution."

According to the Mayo Clinic, hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a mild yet contagious viral infection common in young children, and symptoms include sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet, and sometimes the buttocks.

The rash is not itchy, the clinic said, but sometimes it has blisters. Depending on skin tone, the rash may appear red, white, gray, or only show as tiny bumps.

Other symptoms include fever, sore throat, feeling sick, painful blister-like lesions on the tongue, gums and inside of the cheeks, and loss of appetite.

Fussiness in infants and toddlers, may also occur, the clinic said.

The usual period from initial infection to the time symptoms appear is three to six days, according to the clinic.

Raya said she worried because her Beckman student had been in very close contact with their newborn sibling.

She's now worried her baby will fall ill.

"A child's life should be (the school's) first priority," she said. "They've done a horrible job at keeping kids safe. The principal and vice principal need to be replaced. I do not think they did anything to keep my child safe."

However, the Mayo Clinic says that Hand, Foot and Mouth disease is usually a minor illness that typically only causes fever and mild symptoms for a few days.

The most common cause of hand-foot-and-mouth disease is infection from coxsackievirus 16, which most get through the mouth, the clinic said.

The illness spreads through contact with an infected person's nose secretions or throat discharge; saliva; fluid from blisters; stool; or respiratory droplets sprayed into the air after a cough or sneeze

The disease is most commonly found in child care settings, the clinic said, because young children need frequent diaper changes and help in the restroom. They also tend to put their hands in their mouths, the clinic said.

A child is most contagious during the first week of the disease, but it can remain in the body for weeks after the symptoms go away. That means a child still can infect others.

There is no specific treatment for the disease, but the Mayo Clinic said frequent hand-washing and avoiding close contact with people who have it may help lower a child's risk of infection.

The Mayo Clinic suggests calling your health care provider if your child is younger than six months, has a weakened immune system, or has mouth sores or a sore throat that makes it painful to drink fluids.

You should also call your health care provider if your child's symptoms don't improve after 10 days, the clinic said.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease should not be mistaken for Foot and Mouth Disease — also known as Hoof-and-Mouth Disease — which is an infectious viral disease found in farm animals.

You can't get hand-foot-and-mouth disease from pets or other animals, and you can't spread it to them.

According to the district's guidelines for the disease, infected children should use over-the-counter fever and pain medication to relieve symptoms, but no aspirin. They can also use mouth spray that numbs the sores, the district said.

There is no vaccine for hand-foot-mouth disease, and those infected should avoid using antibiotics, as they will not kill the virus, the district said.

Children should drink as much water as they can to remain hydrated, but if they have difficulty swallowing, a doctor should be contacted.

Students may return to school when their fever has been gone for 24 hours, their appetite has improved and any blisters have no fluid and are healed, the district said.

For more information about hand-foot-and-mouth disease, visit www.tinyurl.com/HFMLodiU.