// Coxsackievirus in children: How serious is it? - Mayo Clinic News Network Skip to main content

Primary Care - North Greece Internal Medicine & Pediatrics

Image
Facebook Facebook Email or phone Password Forgot account? Create new account You're Temporarily Blocked You're Temporarily Blocked It looks like you were misusing this feature by going too fast. You've been temporarily blocked from using it. Back English (US) Español Français (France) 中文(简体) العربية Português (Brasil) Italiano 한국어 Deutsch हिन्दी 日本語 Sign Up Log In Messenger Facebook Lite Video Meta Pay Meta Store Meta Quest Ray-Ban Meta Meta AI Instagram Threads Voting Information Center Privacy Policy Consumer Health Privacy Privacy Center About Create ad Create Page Developers Careers Cookies Ad choices Terms Help Contact Uploading & Non-Users Settings Activity log Meta © 2025 kaiser primary care physicians :: Article Creator Kaiser Permanente Colorado Doctors Leaving 2 Hospitals As Intermountain Health Partnership Winds Down One of Colorado's largest health insurers is halfway through a shift that will move the D...

Coxsackievirus in children: How serious is it? - Mayo Clinic News Network

My 3-year-old grandchild has coxsackievirus. It's going around the child care center. Is this a serious illness?

Answer From Pritish K. Tosh, M.D.

Most coxsackievirus infections aren't serious.

Many people have no symptoms or only mild ones. Some common symptoms are:

  • Fever.
  • Being very tired.
  • Rash.
  • Sore throat.
  • Mouth sores.
  • Painful swallowing.
  • Headache.

Coxsackievirus is sometimes written as two words: Coxsackie virus. Many strains of coxsackievirus exist. But they all belong to a group of viruses called enteroviruses.

The virus spreads when you touch an object with the virus on it and then touch your face. You also can catch the virus by breathing it in when someone who has the virus coughs or sneezes near you.

Illness with this group of viruses happens most often in children less than 1 year old. But anyone can catch the virus. The virus spreads throughout the year. In places with different seasons, cases may go up in the summer and the fall.

For people who catch the virus, health care providers suggest staying home, getting rest and drinking plenty of fluids. Pain medicines that you can get without a prescription can be used for pain or fever. Medicines that are used to treat bacterial infections, called antibiotics, won't help the body clear out coxsackievirus or any other viral infection.

Very rarely, more-serious symptoms can happen. Some strains of this virus can cause:

  • Severe hand-foot-and-mouth disease.
  • Chest pain, called pleurodynia.
  • Inflammation of the heart muscle, called myocarditis.
  • The tissue around the brain to swell, a disease called meningitis.
  • Infection in the brain, also called encephalitis.

If you're worried about your grandchild's symptoms, call a health care provider. Some symptoms to watch for are a high fever, dehydration, or severe headache.

With

Pritish K. Tosh, M.D.

Dec. 28, 2022 See more Expert Answers

.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

These Are the Top Doctors in the Hudson Valley in 2022

William Buoni, MD - Wexner Medical Center

Who are the top doctors in Columbus? Search by specialty with Columbus Monthly's 2021 list