Hand ,foot and mouth disease

Dear Ask The Doctor: My wife is pregnant and she is taking care of a little girl who has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease . Is it safe to be around her ?

Dear Terence: Hand foot and mouth disease is caused by coxsackie virus. The symptoms include fever, painful oral lesions, body rash with sores and diarrhea.

Adults are usually immune to the virus. During pregnancy, an infection may cause a small risk for miscarriage and if your wife is in the third trimester, she could pass the infection to her child if she had the infection. Frequent washing of hands and wearing latex gloves during changing diapers decreases the chances of infection.