Hand, foot, and mouth disease

Hand, foot, and mouth disease, also known as vesicular stomatitis with exanthem, is a vesicular disorder affecting both skin and oral mucosa. The disease is usually caused by Coxsackie virus A-16 and affects mainly children. The oral lesions may require differential diagnosis from other conditions, such as herpetic gingivostomatitis, aphthous stomatitis, and herpangina. Hand, foot, and mouth disease should not be confused with foot-and-mouth disease of cattle, which is rare in human beings and is not caused by Coxsackie virus.