Dozens of Duke students diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease in recent weeks
Dozens of Duke students have been diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease in the last several weeks, according to university spokespeople.
The mild but highly contagious viral infection spread to 60 students on campus between September and mid-October and caused no serious illness, said Dr. P. Hunter Spotts, medical director for Duke Student Health. Since then there have been no additional cases.
Symptoms of the virus include fever, sore throat and a blistery rash. The best way to avoid infection is by avoiding close contact with those who have hand, foo and mouth disease and washing your hands frequently, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The Duke Chronicle, the university’s student newspaper that first reported the outbreak, wrote that the cases were mainly concentrated in freshman students living in East Campus. The paper said Duke has not experienced an outbreak of the disease in at least a decade.
