The Other Foot-in-Mouth Disease

First day of my 2-week vacation and I come down with a 101.8 degree fever, mouth sore, and sore throat.

Today I woke up hoping it would be better, but I'm still sweating enough to fill a small swimming pool, must have caught something from the kiddos in pediatrics. Couldn't make it to my longitudinal clerkship in radiation oncology, but it's probably better not to give a virus to cancer patients getting chemotherapy. Stumbled into Student Health Services (SHS) this afternoon with a fever of 102.6 F, sore throat, apthous ulcer, and slightly bleeding gums. Since I just completed my pediatrics clerkship, my differential included strep throat and hand-foot-and-mouth disease (Coxsackie virus A).

As a kid, I remember getting HFMD with my siblings, and how I thought that it was called "Foot in Mouth Disease," and felt confused because that was supposed to mean something else...

Rapid strep test was negative (but you would still order a culture if your suspicions were strong), and the doctor said it was probably HFMD. The disease lasts 7-10 days (good use of vacation, eh?), and includes fever, sore throat, oral ulcers, and itchy vesicles on your hands and feet. Not all presentations have the full hand-foot-mouth thing.

My fever has been running pretty high these past 3 days, and i've been doing some reading on the internet to see if tylenol vs. motrin (ibuprofen) is better as a fever reducers. Some studies say ibuprofen, some say alternating both drugs works best.