Herpangina, also called mouth , is a painful mouth infection caused by . Usually, herpangina is produced by one particular strain of coxsackie virus A (and the term "herpangina virus" refers to coxsackievirus A),
Signs and symptoms
Symptoms include sudden fever with
sore throat, headache, loss of appetite, and often neck pain. Within two days of onset, an average of four or five (but sometimes up to twenty) 1 to 2 mm diameter grayish lumps form and develop into vesicles surrounded by redness. Over the next 24 hours, these become shallow ulcers, rarely larger than 5 mm diameter that heal in one to seven days. These lesions most often appear on the tonsillar pillars (adjacent to the
tonsils), but also on the soft palate, tonsils, uvula, or tongue.
A small number of lesions (usually two to six) form in the back area of the mouth, particularly the soft palate or tonsil. The lesions progress initially from red to vesicles and lastly to Oral ulcer, which can be 2–4 mm in size.
Cause
Typically spreads via the
fecal-oral route or via respiratory droplets.
Diagnosis
A diagnosis can be made from clinical signs and symptoms, and treatment consists of minimizing the discomfort of symptoms.
[ It can be differentiated from herpetic gingivostomatitis by the positioning of vesicles - in herpangina, they are typically found on the posterior oropharynx, as compared to gingivostomatitis where they are typically found on the anterior oropharynx and the mouth.]
Treatment
Treatment is usually supportive only,
In children with herpangina, using peginterferon α-2b spray may recover more quickly.
Epidemiology
-
Most commonly affects infants and young children
-
Typically occurs during the summer
Etymology
The term is derived from Greek herp 'creeping, snakelike' and Latin angina 'quinsy', literally "inflammation or swelling of the throat or part of the throat, esp. tonsillitis".
External links
