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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It persists in the same territory as chicken pox, a virus most common in young children, and its outbreak in the Yellowknife area is coming to an end.

Hand, foot and mouth disease hit some of the city's daycare centres as early as late February and the last reported cases were reported about two weeks ago.

Wanda White, communicable disease consultant with the Department of Health and Social Services, said the infection - caused by the same virus that causes rashes and sore throats and has no treatment - surfaces every four years or so, with "a new group of little ones that haven't been exposed before" entering the social environment of preschool or daycare.

White said there was quite a bit of activity in the daycares in the city as well as in some adults - although the virus is most usually seen in children under the age of five.

The illness, according to the Yellowknife Primary Care Centre website, occurs in the summer and fall, although the daycares in Yellowknife saw the outbreak primarily in March and April.

Symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, loss of appetite, lack of energy, small painful ulcers in the mouth and a blistery rash most commonly seen on the hands, feet or diaper area. The virus is spread easily and is very contagious, said White. Symptoms last up to two weeks and the virus will still be contagious a few weeks after the symptoms dissipate.

Linda Benedict, executive director of the Yellowknife Day Care Association, said the association had its bout with the virus at the end of February.

"We sent maybe four or five kids home, but only one was reported to have had it," she said.

"It's just like lice or whatever, it's just something that happens when you have a bunch of kids together."

Leona Callahan, owner of Funtime Dayhome, said her facility was lucky and was spared an outbreak.

"I do my toys in rotation so every day it gets sanitized and then a different lot goes out. So if you do that, you won't have it. But all kids can get it just from going into Wal-Mart and back out," she said.

"There's stuff you can't prevent."

Kids Corner Childcare had about seven cases of hand, foot and mouth disease this year. Opening four years ago, this is the first outbreak the daycare has seen. Kathryn Watkins said she informed parents with educational information provided by the Yellowknife Public Health Unit.

She said once the symptoms manifested, the amount of cleaning went up and the kids with the virus went home.

"We disinfect all surfaces generally but we just go double time when something like this is going through. You can't really track it, you can't tell where the kids picked it up because once they show symptoms, they've already been communicable for a period of time, just like chicken pox and cold viruses, too," said Watkins.

She said antibiotics won't help and parents and guardians must just attempt to make their child as comfortable as possible until the virus clears up. She said acidic foods will be painful to eat, due to the sores in the mouth, so more neutral foods such as yogurt will go down easier.

White said Yellowknife was not the only area to be affected this year. There were reported cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in the Tlicho and Sahtu regions as well as the Beaufort Delta.

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