Hand, Foot, Mouth Cases Spike Across Prince George's Schools

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — A jump in hand, foot and mouth disease cases has been detected at Prince George's County Public Schools.

According to PGCPS leaders, as of Oct. 23, more than 40 schools across the district have reported cases.

“It is a communicable disease,” Dr. Traci Jones, who is the supervisor for the Office of School Health for Prince George’s County Public Schools, told WTOP. “It is not a life-threatening communicable disease, but it is a communicable disease that is easily transmitted. You can spread it and have it for up to a week, and then usually one to two days before the blisters come, that’s when you get your most infectious. But you don’t know that you’re infectious at the time, because you feel perfectly fine.”

Jones added that kids should be properly washing their hands and staying home if they have symptoms, such as fever or open blisters.

The Prince George's County Health Department stated that if a child has a fever, sore throat or small blisters on their hands, feet or mouth, it could be HFMD.

"Contact your child’s pediatrician and have them checked for a proper diagnosis. Most cases are mild, but keeping your child home helps protect classmates and teachers. Rest, fluids and good hygiene are key to recovery," the county health department stated.

The county health department posted on Facebook that families can help keep HFMD at bay by following these steps:

• Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
• Clean and disinfect toys and surfaces
• Keep sick children home until fever-free and blisters are healed (at least 24 hours fever-free without the use of fever reducers)

Jones also told WTOP that parents should completely wipe down toys and whatever else their kids might have put their hands or mouths on. The schools also are beefing up their cleaning protocols to help curb HFMDs spread.

"We have crews coming in after hours to clean,” she said. “We have instructed our cleaning crews to — what they would normally wait until at the end of the day to clean — do it twice a day in our attempts to curtail it as much as possible. We’re also going to start increasing hand washing for our students, making sure that’s done more frequently.”

The school district explained on its website that the virus that causes HFMD is spread through feces, saliva, respiratory secretions and fluid from blisters of infected people. Infected people can shed the virus before the time that sores and a rash appear, and will continue to do so for several weeks after the appearance of symptoms.

The symptoms are similar to a common cold with a rash. The rash appears as blisters or ulcers in the mouth, on the inner cheeks, gums, sides of the tongue and as bumps or blisters on the hands, feet and sometimes other parts of the skin. The skin rash may last for 7 to 10 days.

The symptoms can occur one to two days before the onset of painful sores in the mouth and a red rash, which can develop into blisters or ulcers on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

Adults can contract HFMD, but mostly young children are affected.

Young children are primarily affected, but it may be seen in adults. Most cases occur in the summer and early fall. Outbreaks may occur among groups of children especially in child care centers or nursery schools. Symptoms usually appear 3 to 5 days after exposure.