Health officials at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign confirmed more than 60 cases of the highly contagious hand, foot and mouth disease in an outbreak that started at the beginning of the semester, according to The News-Gazette.
The virus is spread via person-to-person contact or contact with objects contaminated by the mucus secretions, blister fluid or feces of an infected person and typically affects children under the age of five.
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"It's about one or two a day," Robert Palinkas, MD, director of the university's McKinley Health Center, told the Gazette. "The rate that we've had them has been slowing down. We're hoping that will continue. We think the peak has already occurred. We're always cautions about declaring the end of something."
According to the CDC, hand, foot and mouth disease is a common viral illness characterized by fever, loss of appetite and sore throat. One or two days after the fever begins, sores can appear in the mouth, potentially turning into ulcers. Blisters may form on the hands and soles of feet one or two days after the first signs of fever.
Rachella Thompson, communicable disease investigator for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, told the Gazette the illness is typically reserved to daycare centers.
"I've never had a case in a college kid," she said.
Cases on college campuses seem to be trending upward. Recently, the illness spurred outbreaks at two college campuses in Florida.
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