Hand, foot and mouth disease in Nagpur

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a viral infection of children caused by Coxsackie virus-A16, a type of enterovirus closely related with the virus that causes herpangina. Although seen worldwide, it is not common in India. Hand, foot and mouth disease is sporadically reported from India as a mild illness. This report describes four cases of HFMD from Nagpur, Central India, seen between September 2005 and April 2006. All patients presented with a mild febrile prodrome followed by the appearance of aphthous-like oral ulcers and vesicular lesions on the hands and feet. All cases were clinically diagnosed. Coxsackie virus A16 was isolated from the serum of one of the patients. All the patients were in the age group of 3-5 years from different schools. It was a mild illness and all the four patients recovered without any complication. There were no secondary cases in the families.