The duration of HFMD will usually be less than a week, and for the more important HFMD patients, it may be longer than a week. Most patients with HFMD are mild and the majority will have a course of less than a week. The course of HFMD begins with a fever. Some children with HFMD do not start with a fever because the symptoms are mild, but with a sore throat and a red papular rash and herpes on the hands and feet. After the onset of fever, a sore throat and a rash on the hands and feet usually appear within 1-2 days. Within 2-4 days after the appearance of the rash, the rash may gradually increase, and the rash is usually at its peak on the third or fourth day. After the rash reaches its peak, it will gradually subside, usually in about three days. Overall, the duration of HFMD is within one week. When the symptoms of HFMD are severe, the fever may last until the fifth or sixth day of the disease, and the hand and foot rash may take longer to subside because of the large number of rashes and herpes, and there may be severe cases of brainstem encephalitis and meningitis, as well as respiratory distress and limb flaccidity.