Girl in Taiwan gets infected with HFMD, mum takes her out on holiday anyway

The unwell tot was meant to rest at home but her mum had other ideas.

A girl in Taiwan was recently given a week off from school to recover from Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD), but instead of staying home during the quarantine, her parents took her out on a sightseeing trip.

"She showed no signs of being ill at all," the girl's mum wrote in a Facebook post.

The young mum decided on an impromptu getaway because she was tired of the fussing toddler keeping her husband up all night.

She even showed off holiday snapshots on social media and checked in to various popular tourist attractions in Yilan, including the Beiguan Tidal Park.

In another post, the woman wrote: "The weather here is as hot as my daughter's body temperature, I don't even know if it's a fever or the weather."

Her Facebook posts irked one of her friends, who took to a public group on the platform to call the mum out on her inconsiderate behaviour.

Netizens slammed the toddler's mother, remarking that she was ignorant about public hygiene. "A crying child may signal that she's unwell, not that she's itching to go out and play," one wrote.

Other Facebook users said, "Now, we have to protect our own kids from getting infected because of selfish people like these."

The concerns of these parents are not unwarranted though. HFMD typically affects children under the age of five and is spread through contact with an infected person's phlegm, mucus, blister fluid or faeces.

Symptoms include fever, sore throat, mouth ulcers and rashes or small blisters on palms, soles and buttocks.

There is no specific treatment for the disease, as the body is equipped to fight the infection on its own. Thus why doctors would usually recommend home rest for at least 10 days for infected kids. 

To relieve the discomfort, however, those who are infected can take medicine for fever or pain and keep themselves well-rested and hydrated.

ALSO READ: 5 things to know about HFMD

lamminlee@asiaone.com