 [ Symptoms ] how do i stop getting hand foot and mouth disease [ Disease ] most helpful answer if you are an adult you will not likely get it this is a childhood viral disease in kids under age five but close household contacts can get it personally i have been exposed hundreds of times and never got it i got lots of other gifts from my little patients however this disease lasts about ten days and has a four to six day incubation period the most contagious period is the first week it is transmitted by direct contact so frequent hand washing some careful isolation of the person with the disease for that first week and avoiding direct contact with the lesions would go a long way in making sure this virus is not transmitted to you or other contacts