Hand, foot and mouth disease cases are popping up in Edmonton. What is it and how can you avoid it?

CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha has more on hand, foot and mouth disease and how you can avoid getting the virus.

An Edmonton emergency room doctor says she’s seeing a number of cases of hand, foot and mouth disease.

Dr. Shazma Mithani says it’s not entirely surprising, as cases tend to pop up around the end of the summer.

“I am seeing some cases in the emergency room, and also in talking to many friends of mine who have younger kids in daycare, there are outbreaks in a lot of places right now,” she told CTV News Edmonton.

The illness is caused by a virus and presents as a rash on the palms, the soles of the feet, around the buttocks, and on the face and mouth.

“Blisters occur around the mouth, in the mouth, on the roof of the mouth, the back of the throat; those are pretty classic for hand, foot and mouth,” Mithani said.

“Other things that you can see in addition to the rash are things like a fever. Sometimes you can get a bit of a runny nose, and diarrhea can be common with hand, foot and mouth disease as well.”

It’s spread through contact and droplets. Mithani says the virus is found in bodily fluids and fecal material.

It also lives inside the blisters of someone infected with the disease.

She says toddlers and younger school children are most at risk for getting sick, because their hygiene isn’t as good as that of older children.

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“Kids, especially younger kids, aren’t so diligent about washing hands,” she said.

“By the time kids are older, they’ve likely already been exposed to the viruses that cause hand, foot and mouth disease, so they do have some immunity to it as they get older.”

Despite that, Mithani says you can catch the disease more than once.

“Hand, foot and mouth disease does not have a vaccine, and it is one that you can get multiple times, especially because there are a few different viruses that cause this disease syndrome,” she noted.

Mithani says the best way to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease is to practice good hand hygiene.

If you or your child becomes sick, there are a few things to consider.

“These blisters can be quite painful, especially in the mouth, and that can impact your child’s ability to take in fluids and be at risk of getting dehydrated,” she said.

“Making sure pain is controlled with medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen, making sure that fever is controlled with that as well, and then keeping up with fluids.”

She also urges parents to keep their children home from school if they get sick.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Edmonton’s school boards as kids get ready to head back to classes.

“The health and well-being of students and staff is a priority for the division and schools,” Lauren Arscott of Edmonton Public wrote in an email to CTV News Edmonton. “We want to remind parents, when the school year begins, to keep their children home if they show any signs of illness.”

“We encourage families to keep students at home should they feel unwell to help prevent the spread of illness,” a spokesperson for Edmonton Catholic Schools said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa