Parents concerned after students at elementary school contract hand, foot, and mouth disease

NEW CANEY, TX (KTRK) -- Two students at New Caney Elementary School have been diagnosed with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease.

"At first you're like, 'oh my gosh' and you're nervous," explained parent Loretta Costello, "but you kind of talk to your teachers and you believe that they're going to keep an eye on your kids."

Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Donna Mendez says the Houston area is right in the middle of peak time for the virus. Once one child gets it, others often do, too.

"It is pretty contagious," said Dr. Mendez. "It's transmitted by basically oral secretions from one child to another child."

If you think your child may have contracted the virus, take him/her to a doctor.

"I wish there was some kind of medicine that we could treat it with but there isn't," Dr. Mendez explained. "Basically it's just fluids and fever control. Just let it pass. It takes sometimes up to seven days to go away, but usually 3-5 days."

Learn more about the disease from the Centers for Disease Control.