Sreemoyee Chatterjee
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Written By: Sreemoyee Chatterjee | Published : September 10, 2018 8:50 PM IST
Global warming can cause hand, foot and mouth disease © Shutterstock
Did you know that even climate change can increase the risk of developing hand, foot and mouth disease? That is exactly what a recent study has shown. Published in the International Journal of Dermatology, the study has pointed out a positive link between hand, foot and mouth disease, temperature and humidity. It has clearly indicated that global warming can potentially contribute to increasing incidence of hand, foot and mouth disease.
The study, however, has not highlighted any relationship between precipitation, wind speed or sunshine, revealed the researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, according to a recent report by PTI.
"There is an emerging understanding of the link between our changing climate and the rising incidence of various infectious diseases," reportedly said Sarah Coates from the University of California, San Francisco.
"Many of these changes are so insidious that they are hard for the average practitioner to detect at the individual level," Coates told PTI.
"We hope to raise awareness within the medical community of these large-scale trends and spur appropriate political action given their potential consequences to public health," she added, as per the media report.
Coxsackievirus A16 is considered to be the most common cause of hand, foot and mouth disease that mostly affects children. Doctors say that the infection can spread through nasal secretions or throat discharge, saliva, fluid from the blisters, stool and respiratory droplets followed by cough or sneeze.
Fever, sore throat, a feeling of not being well, painful, red, blister-like lesions on the tongue, gums and inside of the cheeks, red rashes on the palms, soles and buttocks at times, irritability in infants and toddlers, loss of appetite are some of the common symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease that the parents should be aware of for early diagnosis and treatment, say the doctors.
