BURLINGTON, Vt. -
Health officials warn that it's prime season for hand, foot and mouth disease.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a virus that affects primarily infants and children under 5. Symptoms include a fever and a blister type rash on hands, feet and the inside of the mouth.
The problem is that not everyone with the virus has symptoms, but they can still spread it nonetheless.
"The majority of infections are actually without symptoms, so you get this introduced and you'll have a child-- certainly we tend to see the most cases in children under the age of 5-- who can be with other children and in a group setting of one kind or the other, and appears to be fine and is shedding the virus, and then the other kids can get it," said Susan Schoenfeld, the deputy state epidemiologist at the Vermont Department of Health.
So Schoenfeld says it's critical that people wash hands and surfaces diligently, especially in group settings for children. Hand, foot and mouth is uncomfortable, but not dangerous. Its peak season runs from summer and into the fall.
