Hand-foot-and-mouth disease hits Dartmouth College

[TexasTowelie]

HANOVER — At least 50 students at Dartmouth College have come down with hand--foot-and-mouth disease in recent weeks, though there’s no cause for serious concern, said Mark Reed, Dartmouth’s director of health services.

“It sounds a lot worse than it is,” Reed said.

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease, also known as the coxsackie virus, is a highly contagious illness that can leave people with painful rashes and blisters.

“It’s a young child’s illness; you usually see it in daycares,” Reed said.

The virus typically leaves people feeling sick, with a loss of appetite, a sore throat and a fever, though many infected people feel no symptoms. The illness can incubate in an infected person for days before symptoms arise. When it does show up, people can develop the rashes and blisters that usually last seven to 10 days, Reed said.

Read more: http://www.unionleader.com/Hand-foot-and-mouth-disease-hits-Dartmouth-College

[tymorial]

1. This isnt really surprising.

It's going to become more common. We use sanitizer constantly and that delays introduction of common viruses to children when they would traditionally become infected and build antibodies.