First-hand account of surviving HFMD

Swollen red spots appear on the palms during the initial stage of HFMD infection, leading to pain during contact. — LO TERN CHERN/The Star

HAND, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). I didn’t see it coming and it hit me like a train.

It started on a fine Thursday with work as usual, and lots of good meals and travelling.

By evening, I developed a fever after dinner which eventually became so severe that I pulled a Covid-19 test kit out of the drawer, coughing up blood-tinged sputum into the tiny test tube.

I immediately contacted my editor and colleagues for the next day’s assignments to tell them that I might not make it, as discomfort from the fever was unbearable.

A concerned friend, upon knowing my desperate condition, gave me a painkiller to take that night.

The next morning, I felt as strong as a horse. My fever evaporated and I went on with the scheduled assignments.

Even my photographer was surprised at my sudden recovery.

The good feeling, however, lasted only until evening, and by nighttime, fine red spots started popping out on my palms. I went to the nearest clinic first thing on Saturday morning.

The doctor found multiple ulcers in my throat and other symptoms matching HFMD. By then, the spots on my palms took on an angry reddish hue and started to hurt.

For the first time in eight years with The Star as a journalist, I had to take medical leave. I quarantined myself and surrendered to the enterovirus.

Within the next two days, bright red spots peppered my palms and the soles of my feet. These were itchy, and worst of all was the excruciating pain when making contact with anything.

I struggled to open the refrigerator door, flush the toilet and even hold up a spoon to eat. Fortunately, I could eat; my throat stung a little but I could bear to swallow food.

But walking was misery. It felt as if every square foot of the floor was littered with glass splinters. Every step I took brought piercing pain of 100 needles. I felt disabled.

I wanted badly to Google and understand more about HFMD, but using the keyboard or even flicking my finger across the handphone screen brought pain.

Four days later, the rashes subsided. The doctor confirmed that I was fit to work and no longer infectious.

In the subsequent two weeks, the rashes on my palms and soles became blisters and the blisters became hard, rough scabs.

When it dried, I could peel the skin off in large swathes.

How I caught the virus remains a mystery.

In the days I was debilitated, I racked my brain in vain to recount where I could have gone and who I could have met to find the most likely event that gave me the virus.

And yet, there was nobody I knew whom I had met in the three to six days (standard HFMD incubation time) before my fever who caught HFMD either.

It must have been one of those days when I slacked off on my hygiene practices, or it was just pure bad luck.

I visited over a dozen eateries, attended a ballroom dinner, a business conference, and met hundreds of people before the HFMD symptoms showed up.

While we are focused on Covid-19 prevention, we should not let our guard down on other aspects of hygiene. We must be more wary of existing infections and illnesses.

HFMD is highly contagious. Although it mostly affects children, adults are also susceptible to it.

Always ensure the surfaces we touch are disinfected regularly, avoid close contact or utensil-sharing, wash your hands and remember to sanitise your steering wheel, keys and other small things you hold regularly.

All those precautions will keep Covid-19 and a host of other pathogens at bay too.

Speaking of Covid-19, after two years of the pandemic, I finally caught it in June, followed by HFMD in July.

August, please be kind!