About 10 players on the Duke Football Team have reported symptoms consistent with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease since late September.
According to Dr. John Vaughn, director of Student Health Center at Duke, the illness is a virus with symptoms that include fever, sore throat, a rash and small blisters. The virus is typically transmitted by exposure to secretions from coughing, sneezing or fluid from blisters.
“It sounds much more dramatic than it is,” Vaughn said. “It’s basically a viral infection that resolves itself within about a week.”
As a precaution, Duke officials had the locker room and facilities professionally cleaned over the weekend to help prevent the further spread of the virus.
Dr. Jeff Bytomski, head medical team physician at Duke University, said that he has reinforced thorough hand-washing and other hygiene tips to help limit the spread of the virus.
“We saw the first case in late September, and most have fully recovered already,” he said. “About three or four players are still getting over it, but they should be well soon.”
Vaughn said that the spread of the virus is something that poses little risk for the broader student body since transmission requires direct contact with secretions from an infected person.
“The incubation period is about three to five days, and we hope to have this limited incident completely behind us by later this week,” Vaughn said.