Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease: What’s Going Around for the Week of June 5

Too much pool time can wreak havoc on your ears and your skin. That’s just one thing local doctors are talking about when looking at “What’s Going Around” the area where you live.

At the Mecca Clinic, Dr. Randolph Gibbs is still seeing cases of gastroenteritis in children. Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, nausea or vomiting. Most of the time it’s caused by rotavirus. “Treatment is primarily focused on prevention and hydration,” Gibbs says. “Rehydrating with oral rehydration solution is beneficial.” Patients older than 2 can get some anti-diarrheal agents. Hand-washing and the rotavirus vaccine can prevent this in younger children.
Why would your little ones be having headaches? Dr. Erica Ruiz says they may not be getting enough water. Kids are more likely to spend time outside this time of year, and need to keep even more hydrated than us adults because of it. The headaches seem to come on after periods of time spent in the sun with little or no water intake. And people are hitting the pool and developing a dry skin rash called eczema. Products like Aveeno and Aquaphor can help the itchiness and redness than comes with the rash.
Hand-foot-mouth virus is back in Coachella. Dr. Frank Curry reports seeing several cases. This shows up as a skin rash, blisters and a fever, usually in children younger than 5. A stomach virus is also making the rounds in this part of the valley. Dr. Curry’s seen many children with vomiting and diarrhea.
A fair amount of Dr. Michael Jardula’s patients in Palm Springs have come in for help with dizziness and vertigo, all as a result of ear infections. This could be related to an increase in swimming because of the warmer weather. It could also be a secondary effect of allergy symptoms.
More and more patients in Palm Springs are coming in with ant bites. Doctors advise using gauze and saline, along with some firm wiping pressure, to unroof the bite, clear out the toxin, and allow healing to begin. Also, Dr. Frank Arian saw a case of salmonella that he says can teach us a lot about the prevention of a very bad disease. Salmonella can be found on vegetables, fruits, meats, and even on some exotic pets like iguanas, snakes and turtles. Most of the worst cases come from inadequately cooked meats, especially chicken. Also, poorly washed or refrigerated meats, fruits or veggies.
Dr. Arian’s List of Nine Ways to Avoid Salmonella Poisoning
1. Wash hands between every phase of the meal which includes preparation, cooking, transportation, serving, eating and clean-up. That especially includes washing hands after using the restroom.
2. Wash vigorously all fruits and vegetables, meats especially chicken and seafood.
3. Cook meats thoroughly.
4. Eat sushi only in places skilled in its preparation.
5. Avoid wood and porous cutting boards. Wash thoroughly those cutting boards used in the preparation phase as well as any utensils or dishes.
6. Keep food adequately refrigerated during all phases of the meal prep and transport and serving, ESPECIALLY IN WARM WEATHER !!!!!
7. Proceed with caution when eating sensitive foods like chicken after a long power outage. Better to toss them and buy more than get sick.
8. Change kitchen towels often and never use same towel for prep phase as serving, eating or transport or cleanup phases of a meal.
9. Wash hands copiously after handling exotic reptiles and amphibians. Most importantly, learn from this case. It can save you a lot of suffering and a fortune in ER bills.

Watch “What’s Going Around” Tuesday evenings at 5:30 and Wednesday mornings at 6:45 on CBS Local 2 News.