Diagnosis
The diagnosis is usually made by interviewing the patient and by physical examination. In most cases, the age of the patient in connection with the typical skin symptoms on the oral mucosa is leading the way. Thus, especially small children up to the age of three are affected by this infectious disease.
Questioning the parents about the beginning and duration of the disease symptoms as well as a look in the throat will secure the diagnosis in most cases. If there are doubts about the disease, a blood test can prove the virus. However, whether the herpes virus is simply detectable in the blood (as in every second person) or whether the virus also causes the oral disease, cannot usually be determined by the laboratory.However, it is important in this context that a lack of herpes detection in the blood excludes oral thrush as a disease in any case.
In this case, a search must be made for another cause. In the case of “mouth rot” it is important that the person affected has no contact with others, especially not with other children, as otherwise there is a risk of infection. It is passed on by droplet infection, whereby coughing, sneezing or simply talking to other people can be enough to infect them.
A local complication, especially in children, is nail bed inflammation. This is caused by nail biting and especially by finger sucking in small children. The virus can then get onto the nail and infect it.
The disease is usually transmitted by the parents of small children, as they do not take an outbreak of herpes seriously and kiss the child or share a glass of water with the child. Mouth rot during pregnancy is not harmful to the unborn child. However, the immune system of newborns is not yet fully developed.
Therefore, those suffering from mouth rot should avoid contact with small children. Doctors and dentists must also protect themselves from possible transmission of the pathogens with gloves, mouth protection and protective goggles. The right doctor for “mouth rot” is first and foremost the dentist. Because the disease is primarily conspicuous by its accompanying symptoms such as fever and fatigue, the family doctor or pediatrician is usually the first to be consulted. As a rule, general practitioners consult with the dentists in a case of gingivostomatitis herpetica in order to decide on a common course of treatment.
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