MERIDEN — There are confirmed cases of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease at Platt High School, but this illness is commonly found in children.
A letter was sent out to everyone Wednesday notifying parents of this illness and since then, students said they have been keeping a safe distance from each other since it is very contagious.
The city’s health department said several high school students have been infected.
Senior Martha Chatman said she heard it started with the football team.
“Very uncomfortable. Anybody can just come up because you know, you’re always giving high fives, you’re like best friends and everything. You never know if they might have it,” said Chatman of Meriden.
Students said everyone is taking precautions since the letter was distributed because they have been worried they will get sick.
“I put hand sanitizer on like ten times today. All of my forearms everywhere and stuff, stay away from people,” said Bailey of Meriden.
“It’s contagious! We’re used to saying hi to like everybody, talking to everybody, dapping everybody up, we can’t do that because we don’t want to catch it,” said Summer Diaz of Meriden.
Symptoms to watch out for are: fever, reduced appetite, sore threat and the tell-tale red rash and blisters on the hands and feet.
“They’re just saying to wash your hands like multiple times,” said Hennessey Fuentes of Meriden.
The health department is urging students to wash hands properly with soap for a full 20 seconds and to avoid touching your face. Also, disinfect any surfaces that may come into contact with the virus.
Parents said they are happy with the urgent response.
“It’s part of raising kids and I know that the school’s doing a good job. They’re cleaning it, they’re making sure that … our kids are safe,” said Catherine Vega of Meriden.
In the letter, it said the disease is typically not that serious and will go away in a matter of days, but if you notice your child is sick for an abnormal amount of days, it is recommended you bring them to a doctor.
