After two days of continuous high fever, crying and refusing to eat, baby N.M. K. (4 years old, residing in Ho Chi Minh City)'s family thought her child had a common sore throat or mouth ulcer, so they took care of her at home. However, on the third day, the child appeared with many ulcers in her mouth, blisters on her palms and toes, accompanied by continuous startling and restless sleep, so she was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.
At the hospital, doctors diagnosed the baby with severe hand, foot and mouth disease, with warning signs of neurological complications. The patient was admitted to the hospital for close monitoring and intensive treatment.
The mother said that in the early days, the child only had a fever of about 38.5-39 degrees Celsius and complained of mouth pain, so the family did not think about hand, foot and mouth disease. "Until the child developed a rash on his hands and feet, continuously startled and refused to eat and drink, the family took him to the hospital," she recounted.
After many days of treatment, the baby's health gradually stabilized, neurological symptoms decreased and he was discharged from the hospital for monitoring at home.
BS.CK1 Tran Ngoc Luu - Department of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital 2 said that hand, foot and mouth disease is an infectious disease transmitted from person to person by a group of intestinal viruses, which can form epidemics. The disease mainly travels through the digestive tract from saliva, fluid from blisters and feces of infected children. Hand, foot and mouth disease can occur year-round, but tends to increase from March to May and from September to December every year, the disease is common in children under 5 years old.
Signs that children are likely to have the disease include: Fever (mild to high), mouth ulcers, pink rash blisters, common locations: palms, soles of feet, pillows, elbows, buttocks.
Hand, foot and mouth disease can lead to very dangerous complications, causing rapid death if not treated promptly. The disease can cause serious brain damage such as encephalitis, cord inflammation, encephalitis-myelitis, meningitis, or other cardiovascular and respiratory complications.
Although they have had the disease before, children are still at risk of re-infection if exposed to the source of infection. Because immunity in children to this disease is not sustainable.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC), in week 29 (from July 13-19, 2026), the city recorded 1,031 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease, a stable increase of about 8% compared to the average of the previous 4 weeks. Since the beginning of the year, the whole city has had 26,236 cases.
Notably, localities with a high rate of hand, foot and mouth disease over 100,000 people include Con Dao, Binh Khanh and Hiep Phuoc special zones.
The health sector believes that hand, foot and mouth disease is still circulating in the community, mainly in young children. Therefore, parents need to closely monitor symptoms such as fever, blisters on the palms of their hands and feet, mouth ulcers, or abnormal crying of children to take them to medical facilities in time.
HCDC recommends that people continue to implement disease prevention measures such as washing hands regularly with soap, cleaning toys and household items of children, keeping a clean living environment and limiting contact with sick children to reduce the risk of spreading in the community.
