Sofia unfortunately caught the hand, foot and mouth disease a little over a week ago. Alhamdullilah it was not that bad and she recovered well only within 5 days.

How did I know it was HFMD?
I didn't, at first.
For few days, dia hilang selera makan. Not that she rejected everything; she still takes food into her mouth, cuma dia kunyah-hisap-buang makanan tu. Tak telan. She drinks a lot though. She also had a few bouts of low fever, which only spikes to about 38degrees or so when she sleeps for a consecutive two nights.

I suspected she was only teething.

Doctor's visit
The morning after, badan dia naik ruam-ruam merah, mostly on her arms and legs. It wasn't bumpy nor blister-y  so  I assumed it was just fever rash (Roseola).

Brought her to see the doctor, and he was not too cencerned about it sebab Sofia dah tak demam. Yes it could just be fever rash, along with sore throat. Tapi doktor ada cakap, ada few blister spots but too early to tell if it's something else like measles or chicken pox. I was told to come back if it gets worse.

Rashes to spots
Petang tu tangan dan kaki dia yang mulanya cuma ruam dah jadi bintik-bintik halus. Some of it turned into blisters. We thought, ok, this could definitely be measles or pox. We'll bring her in to see the doctor again on Monday.

Second checkup
Prior to visit, timbul pula bintik-bintik merah dekat bawah mulut. Spots on her arms and legs pon makin bertambah. A quick check with my family members- ada  yang kata campak, ada yang kata ruam biasa. Tiba-tiba someone brought up HFMD. Terus ting!ting!ting! Yes! Hati kuat kata ni mesti HFMD, which didn't came into mind at all before this.

Doktor sahkan memang HFMD. Immediately I recalled a visit to an indoor playground a couple of days before she started her fever. Lucky enough, my eldest didn't get the disease, and all I had to do was to monitor both girls to not be too close to each other for a few days.

Quarantine
HFMD ni akan baik sendiri dalam masa lebih kurang seminggu. Doktor cuma bagi ubat demam/tahan sakit sebab katanya HFMD ni sakit, bintik-bintik tu tak gatal pon. Alhamdulillah Sofia terus sihat two days after and mula makan dan minum banyak.

Outbreak
There are many cases of HFMD this of late, apatah lagi virus-virus lain yang makin merebak macam campak. It could lead to many other things..many unwanted things. Jadi fikirkanlah pentingnya imunisasi anak-anak kita ni.

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE.