Which department should I go to for suspected hand, foot and mouth disease?

If you suspect your child has hand, foot and mouth disease, parents can take him to the infectious disease department, pediatric internal medicine department, or emergency department for registration. In addition, you can also choose to go to the hospital's fever clinic for registration and examination. After a comprehensive clinical evaluation, it will be determined whether it is hand, foot and mouth disease.

1. General outpatient clinic or infectious disease department

1. Routine blood test: By observing the changes in white blood cells and lymphocytes, we can roughly determine whether there is a viral infection.

2. Pathogenic testing: For example, collecting pharyngeal or perianal blister fluid for virus culture and nucleic acid testing can help determine what type of hand, foot and mouth disease virus is causing the disease and guide further treatment.

3. Imaging examination: including chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, etc., can rule out the presence of other complications.

4. Cerebrospinal fluid examination: For children within one week of onset, it is necessary to understand whether the nervous system is affected. If there are abnormalities, it indicates possible encephalitis.

5. Immune function test: Some critically ill children may have immune deficiency problems, and targeted measures must be taken in a timely manner to prevent serious complications.

2. Pediatrics

If you suspect that your child has hand, foot and mouth disease, you can go directly to the pediatric department to register for treatment. The doctor will give appropriate treatment methods based on the child's condition to avoid aggravating the discomfort symptoms.

3. Infectious Diseases Department

Since hand, foot and mouth disease is an infectious disease, you can also register at the infectious department, complete relevant examinations and use antiviral drugs such as ribavirin granules as prescribed by the doctor.

4. Emergency Department

If the patient is not in the onset period and only has symptoms such as fever, it is recommended to go to the hospital's fever clinic to register for treatment, and then decide on the specific department to go to after comprehensive evaluation. However, if the patient is in the acute onset period, accompanied by high fever, etc., he should go to the hospital's emergency department first to avoid delaying the disease.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that for problems such as fever, oral ulcers, and rashes caused by hand, foot, and mouth disease, you can also consider cooperating with a Chinese medicine physician to take Chinese medicine for auxiliary treatment that clears heat and detoxifies, such as honeysuckle granules.