Herpangina

No no, Herpangina is not a new kinda herb nor recipe. It's also not another variant of the drink Orangina LOL but Herpangina is an illness caused by a virus, characterised by small blister-like bumps or ulcers that appear in the mouth, usually in the back of throat or the roof of the mouth. Herpangina most commonly affects infants and young children aged 3-10 years and less common in adolescents and adults. The child often has a high fever with the illness.

My BoiBoi was having recurrent high fever of above 38C since last Monday. Took him to two peads and came back with similar diagnostic of tonsillitis. His fever persists over 7 days and mostly peaked at wee hours in the morning which is kinda weird cos usually it will subside after a few dosage of fever meds or voltaren especially when it peaked at 38.8C. We first noticed one huge blister in his mouth and his gums are red in colour on Thursday. Later on his mouth is filled with blisters of different sizes at various locations. He had some difficulties in eating but he's a trooper. He had fewer bites and we fed him ice-creams and loads of manuka honey (UMF16). Made him rinse and gargle with Bactidol but he complained it's bitter, so his daddy made him rinse with salt water at regular intervals.

We were a bit relieved when his fever is gone on Saturday and he became his usual active self. However, his fever came back on Sunday. BoiBoi is finally diagnosed with Herpangina on Monday when we took him to his pead again, not surprising since the incubation period is 7-14 days. Yesterday, most of his blisters were healed and back to jumping around like normal. Since it's contagious, we'll check on his progress today if he's fit to get back to school tomorrow.

Sighhh... it has been a long sleepless week for us but nothing beats seeing him on the road to recovery.

We've missed attending Asian Food Channel’s preview of Michelin Chef Daniel Boulud’s “One Night In Singapore” with Frat last Friday and also yesterday's launch of Best Eats KL and theQguides. Apologies to those who have emailed me inviting to their restaurants for food tasting, food hunt, and Ministry of Federal Territory's launch of Blog of FT. We hope you'll understand that we're not in the right frame of mind for all these fabulous offers.

So, we've learnt a new word and disease - Herpangina and we hope you're aware of this by now especially if you have young children at home. Also, please check out pulled-elbow syndrome and handle young children with care.