what causes hand foot and mouth

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a common viral infection that causes painful red blisters in the mouth and on the hands, feet, and diaper area. The most common cause of hand-foot-and-mouth disease is infection from coxsackievirus 16, which belongs to a group of viruses called nonpolio enteroviruses. Other types of enteroviruses also may cause hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Most people get the coxsackievirus infection — and hand-foot-and-mouth disease — through the mouth. The illness spreads by person-to-person contact with an infected person's nose secretions or throat discharge, saliva, fluid from blisters, stool, or respiratory droplets sprayed into the air after a cough or sneeze. Children in child care settings are especially vulnerable because the infection spreads by person-to-person contact. Symptoms usually clear up within a week to 10 days, and kids recover completely. There's no cure for hand-foot-and-mouth disease and no vaccine to prevent it, but frequent hand- washing and avoiding close contact with people who have hand-foot-and-mouth disease can help prevent its spread