Hand, foot and mouth disease also known as HFMD, is a viral disease caused by the coxsackievirus A16, a variety of enterovirus. Other than coxsakievirus there are other varieties of enterovirus which may lead to hand foot and mouth disease. HFMD is a common viral infection with high infectivity. HFMD mostly occur in children and infants although adults even with intact immune function (immunocompetent) may also suffer from this disease. The infecting virus spreads from the infected person to other healthy persons through contact with saliva, mucosal secretion, fecal matter and other body fluids. The disease is commonly seen during summer and autumn and occurs as small scale epidemics in kindergartens, schools and day care centers.  In most of the cases incubation period is about 3 to 6 days.

As such there is no specific cure available for hand foot mouth disease although with symptomatic management the symptoms usually resolve on their own within 7 to 10 days. As such no vaccine is available for prevention of the disease; however hand washing and maintenance of good hygiene habits are of some use in preventing the occurrence of the disease.There is another disease known as foot and mouth disease or hoof and mouth disease which is distinct from hand foot mouth disease as the first one affects mainly swine, cattle and sheep and rarely humans, although both the diseases are caused by the viruses belonging to the same family, the picornaviridae family.
Symptoms
There are some common characteristic presenting symptoms
1) High degree of fever
2) Pain in the throat (sore throat)
3) Generalized body ache (malaise), increased tiredness, weakness etc
4) Painful reddish in color fluid filled blister like lesions on the tongue, gums and other mucous membrane covered areas of the oral cavity
5) Sometimes reddish colored typical rash may appear on the palms, sole and buttock areas. These lesions are usually not itchy however sometimes these lesions may convert into blisters.
6) Increased irritability in children
7) Loss of appetite.
In most of the patients the usual time interval between contracting the infection and the appearance of the first symptom (incubation period) is about 3 to 6 days. In most of the patients with HFMD, fever is the first symptoms and is usually followed by generalized body ache, increased fatigue and loss of appetite.Usually after 1 to 2 days following the onset of the fever, characteristic  rashes appear in the oral cavity, palms, soles, buttocks and other body parts.

Dehydration is the most common complication associated with hand foot and mouth disease.Rare but life threatening complications are also seen these are inflammatory damage to the protective covering of the brain and the spinal cord, the meninges known as meningitis and inflammatory damage to the brain known as encephalitis.