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My son was just diagnosed with HFM and the doctor said I should close daycare for the week but I have been reading/hearing a lot of different ideas on this. Some people say not to close at all so what is your policy and why? BTW, one daycare child has the same symptoms as my son and one of the other children started had a fever over the weekend so she is most likely coming down with it, only 5 other kids to go!
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I've never closed for HFM. I've also never had more than 2 get it at a time, either. -
Hfm
I've been open for 10 years and never even seen it before this. In fact the only illness besides the common cold that has ever made its rounds was H1N1 three years ago due to a child that was dosed with Tylenol and got all of the daycare kids sick (my family escaped getting ill thank goodness). I'm very stringent with my illness policies and cleanliness, my parents know this so I think they try extra hard to keep their little ones healthy. So far it has worked wonderfully and when a child gets ill the rest of us usually stay healthy but this thing is working it's magic quickly! I heard that it is spreading like wildfire in some centers in my area.
My son had a high fever last Sunday night so I closed on Monday, the fever broke so I opened back up on Tuesday. On Wednesday all of my kids had a dentist appointment (no sores in mouth), on Thursday they had their yearly physicals and they were completely fine then today we wake up and my son has blisters all over his hands. My first thought was that he had gotten into something and I was freaking out then we took him to Urgent Care and found out he has HFM. Now he has blisters forming on his feet and one of the daycare kids definitely has it (mom said he is very uncomfortable and crying a lot) and another seems to be getting it.
One of the major centers in our area does not exclude children when they have it but a lot of the providers do. The CDC says that they don't need to be excluded but the Mayo Clinic suggests exclusion for 7-10 days. I hate things like this! I've never had HFM and I'll bet most of us haven't because back in the day when we were in childcare our mothers kept us when we were ill and they didn't take us out to run errands if we had symptoms. There was no going to the doctor and asking if a child could go to daycare because if your kid was sick you took care of it. Nowadays it seems like most of the doctors say "they were probably already exposed so there is no reason to exclude" to just about everything (bet their kids don't go to daycare when other people are knowingly ill though)!
I know that it is most infectious when they get the blisters and becomes less infectious once the blisters clear up (although it can still be infectious for the next month through the child's feces). Obviously I will not close for a month but am thinking maybe I should close for the week until the blisters are gone. All of my parents are fine with this and I will have to re-figure my finances because I don't charge if I'm not open but I would rather save one of them from developing painful blisters/possible dehydration and for me to be broke than make a little money and pretty much insure that all of my daycare kids become ill.Last edited by Blackcat31; 07-23-2012, 07:36 AM.Comment
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HFM is HIGHLY contagious and it isnt fun for the kiddos who have it blisters in the mouth, fever, blistery rash on hands and feet. You wouldnt allow a daycare child in daycare with HFM would you? So you shouldnt open and have your child give it to the other children. I had HFM go threw my daycare a few years ago it started with a little girl then spread like crazy to my 2 boys 1 of mine was 2 at the time and it was awful for him he couldnt eat nor drink very well for days and all he did was cry I closed for a whole week and disinfected everything.Comment
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I had 2 kids with it last year (one of which was mine). I did not close, but that is because I didn't know until it was too late. A dck brought it in. He didn't have a fever when he was in my care, but was acting out of sorts all week and had small blisters on the top of his foot. By Friday, my dd got a fever mid-day, so I did not close. The next day was Saturday and we took my dd to urgent care because she got the blisters on her hands and in her mouth (we took her to urgent care because she had a serious allergic reaction a few months prior and we wanted to ensure it wasn't the same thing). They said it was textbook HFM. By Sunday, the fever broke and so I did not close on Monday. That was the last I saw of it.Comment
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I had a sibling set pick it up from a local park last month. First the sister had it, I excluded them both from care for the week just as I would if one came down with chicken pox....brother caught it from her at the end of that week and they were out for an additional week. They had it on hands feet and all over in their mouths. They were absolutely miserable with the mouth sores.
Two of my toddlers families just had new babies. I cannot imagine if toddlers would have gotten it from the sibling pair and it ran through their families what that could have done to those newborns......especially because one was having trouble with **** swallow reflex as it it was.
I would never knowingly expose any children in my home to such a contagious and at times extremely painful illness. I don't understand the mentality of exclude for the sniffles but not HFMD.Comment
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I just had HFM go through my day care. I've been in business for almost 17 years and this is the first time I've ever experienced it. One kid came in with it and the next thing I knew, three other kids in my care came down with it. One parent told me their dr. said the same thing as the above quote. My family has the same dr so I called the office asking for advice on whether to exclude or not. I was told the same thing - don't bother; they've already been exposed. I did ask parents to keep their kids home at least until the fever and mouth sores were gone. Half of the kids enrolled here got HFM, the other half didn't.
Oh....also....the dr. of one of my dc parents told her that adults don't get HFM but that's not true. My own family and I had varying degrees of the symptoms. My 21 year old had the worst: fever, fatigue, headache, mouth sores, rash. The mouth sores were the worst for him. I had fatigue and a few mouth sores, my dd had the rash and my husband had a few sores on his chest. Not something I want in my house again if I can help it.Comment
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We just had it here about the first of July.
Here is what I know:
50% of those infected show no symptoms.
For those with symptoms they are not present until days after infection is present, which is why it spread so much. Essentially you are "sick" and spreading it days before you know.
I chose to stay open. One dck already had rash, no fever, no sores etc. My own son got it, fevered over the weekend, rash on belly, no sores etc. Doc said they were all exposed for the week prior to him getting the fever so there was nothing we could do. Nobody else showed signs.
Doc also said it spreads easily in pools and wading pools, which is why lots of people are popping up with it now.Comment
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I have heard it can also be airborne. I heard it's really going around this year.
I currently am going through this with my daycare. I only have 5 kids though. Only one (possibly 2) have come down with it. The second parents have kept their child out a few days but they think he's actually teething.
Basically the incubation period is 4-6 days prior to the symptoms occur. From what I've read they are contagious when the blisters and symptoms are visible...but I would think they would be contagious during the incubation period as well. (???)
From what the doctor told them we figured it out about approximately 3 days into the illness. The doctor said the 3rd day is the worst usually. It ****s because the symptoms are so similar to teething with the exception of the (possible) rash and blisters are sometimes not immediately visible. The guy I had didn't have any on his hands or feet. Just in his mouth. He had a rash under his shirt but I don't ever have their shirts off. If they were teething prior its easy to miss. I am crossing my fingers. We found out Friday. (3 days in would have been Wednesday). I spent the entire weekend disinfecting everything. I figured 4-6 days we should have seen someone else come down with it by now...
Overall it's like the chicken pox. They supposedly only get it once. If they are anything like the little guy I had there is no way I'd want to care for an entire gaggle of kids with that stuff. Good lord... He was hysterical the whole time he was here with it. Actually was hysterical all week (not just from wednesday-friday). I would not want all of them that way.
As far as I'm concerned I have enough to worry about. It's not the same as a cold. It's not my job to take care of other people's sick children. When they are that sick (and contagious none the less) it's their job to be home with them. In my case (so far) it's worked out. No one else has gotten it...I hope.Comment
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I would close for the week, just to be safe and give you time to sanitize everything, even carpets! I had this last year, was NOT fun! Everyone here caught it, some children get it worse then others. Both of my kids only had the mouth sores, and like 2 blister on the shin...but they all had fever, my son even had febrile seizure because his fever spiked so high. For me if a child is out a 2nd week i would 1/2 off the second week.
Its really your call though, also HFM stays in feces way after the symptoms are gone. I would give parents informational packet on this. Maybe have your dr write a note that you can give parents so they dont think your going over board on this. If any of the kids have not come into contact yet with the ones who were infected you will be saving them , their parents and urself a big head ache.Comment
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Here is a fantastic sheet about HFM. http://www.hennepin.us/files/Hennepi...AND%20FOOT.pdf
It can be spread by people who do not appear ill. It CAN be spread by feces for weeks afterwards and the only recommended exclusions are if a fever is present and/or the child is not well enough to participate.
It also states the illness is most commonly found in children under 10 years old and is probably what Dr. was referring to when saying adults don't get it. He more than likely said it is uncommon or not likely and parent heard "can't get it".
The disease is usually self-limited but in rare cases has been fatal in infantsComment
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the week off
I took the week off so we could get better. Most of my parents were fine with my decision to close, the only one that had a slight problem (has asked several times when I will open back up even though I told her next week) has a child who also contracted it and she said he has it bad and has been very uncomfortable all week and doesn't want to eat or drink. Even if I were open he wouldn't be allowed back! Ahhh! Anyway, as much as I'm always saying that I need a week off to get things done around the house and that I wish I had more time with just my kids It's only Tuesday and I kind of miss my group of toddlers. Silliness!Comment
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