CLEVELAND (WJW) — It’s that time of year when parents may want to keep a close eye on a set of illnesses children are prone to get.

Summer is one of the peak seasons for hand, foot and mouth disease outbreaks. It’s a contagious infection most common in kids. Those who are infected can develop sores in their mouth and red spots on their body.

“There is certainly more significant nervousness on the part of parents when it comes to hand foot and mouth,” said Dr. Kevin Turner, a pediatrician at UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s. “There’s something much more visible to be seen and a lot of these kids are really fussy, it hurts, it’s very uncomfortable.”

Complicating the issue, Turner said, is the illness can at first look similar to strep throat.

“They both classically will cause irritation of the throat including redness, sometimes sores, white patches and it’s very difficult to tell the difference between the two without a test,” Turner said.

Pediatricians said frequent testing for step-throat can result in kids being prescribed medication they may not need.

“A lot of the kids are getting swabbed when they’re not even complaining of sore throat,” said Dr. Maureen Ahmann, a pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Children’s. “Up to 30 to 40 percent of school-aged children between the ages of five to 15 are carriers of strep so no matter when you test them, they’re going to be positive.”

According to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, determining the frequency of outbreaks for both strep throat and hand, foot and mouth disease is difficult to track given the illnesses are not required to be reported to local health departments. 

A spokesperson for Summit County Public Health stated that four hand, foot and mouth outbreaks were reported so far this year, all occurring in May and June. 

“The only time your child should be swabbed for strep throat is if they truly have the clinical signs,” Ahmann said. “Red, swollen beefy tonsils, exudate, which is like the white film on the tonsils, something called petechiae, like little bruises or red dots on the roof of the mouth, big swollen lymph nodes.”

When in doubt both pediatricians advised parents to call their child’s doctor for additional guidance.

“If we swab them right away for strep and they’re positive and then we give them an antibiotic, it’s going to make the hand foot and mouth – or potentially make the hand foot and mouth – last longer and be worse,” Ahmann said.