What Is HFMD?
9. Diagnosis
In many cases, a doctor will be able to make a diagnosis based on a brief physical examination. Hand foot and mouth disease is a common condition in children so it is usually reasonable to assume what the problem is without further investigation. If the diagnosis is made and the condition gets worse, the patient should be taken back to see the doctor again.
Depending on the circumstances, a doctor might want to get a more solid diagnosis. This will likely mean requesting a stool sample or taking a throat swab so they can be sent to a laboratory for analysis. This can help experts identify the pathogen causing the condition, thus helping to confirm the diagnosis.
Advertisement
