evidence: There’s no cure or vaccine for hand, foot, and mouth disease. Because a virus causes it, antibiotics won’t help. It usually goes away on its own after 7-10 days. In the meantime, you can ease symptoms with: [...] HFMD can be mistaken for other viruses and illnesses, including chickenpox, mpox (monkeypox), and even insect bites or herpes. [...] You are most contagious during the first week of illness, but people can still spread the virus to others for days or weeks after symptoms go away, or even if they have no symptoms at all.