patients are usually diagnosed by their clinical appearance. clinically blisters that are painful usually on the hands feet and mouth in a child with fever are considered diagnostic of coxsackie virus infection. however in rare instances viral tests can be done to identify the virus but the tests are expensive usually need to be sent to a specialized viral diagnostic laboratory and often take about two weeks to get a result. this testing is almost never done since most infections are self-limited and typically mild.
how are coxsackie virus infections diagnosed?