Health Department Seeing Rise in Outbreaks of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease
Rates are higher than in previous years, according to area health district.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The Rappahannock Area Health District (RAHD) is seeing an increase in outbreaks of hand, foot, and mouth disease in the Fredericksburg area, according to an alert issued last week.
“Since August, RAHD has investigated three separate outbreaks at both child daycare facilities and elementary schools across the district,” the alert states. “The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is seeing an increase in emergency department and urgent care visits, as well as an increase in reported outbreaks across the state in 2025.”
Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a viral rash illness that spreads from person to person by direct contact with bodily fluids. It is most common among children aged 5 and under, but can also affect older children and adults.
Symptoms include fever, sore throat, painful mouth sores that blister, rash found commonly on the hands and feet, poor appetite, and a general feeling of being unwell.
It usually clears up in seven to 10 days with little or no medical treatment, but “can be very distressing to both child and parent,” said David Rose, interim health director for the area health district—which covers Fredericksburg City and the counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and King Geroge—in the alert.
Rose said the disease can spread quickly in group settings such as daycares and schools, “so it is important for parents to keep their children home while sick, until their temperature is normal for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and they are feeling better without their mouth sores causing excessive drooling.”
Prevention tips include frequent hand-washing with soap and water, avoiding touching your face, regular cleaning and disinfecting of frequently-touched surfaces, and covering your nose and mouth when you cough of sneeze.
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