BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Doctors at Ochsner are seeing more cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease extending later into the summer months and even into the start of fall, when the illness is typically confined to spring and summer seasons.

Dr. James Wayne with Ochsner said the unusually warm fall temperatures are allowing summer diseases like hand, foot, and mouth to circulate later into the year than normal. The increase has prompted at least one school to send letters to parents advising them to seek immediate medical attention when symptoms appear.

However, Wayne said most cases don’t require a doctor’s visit.

“Do you truly need to come to the doctor if your child has hand, foot, and mouth? No,” Wayne said. “The only reason why I would bring them is if they have signs of dehydration

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