In late summer, a 2-year-old boy presents with a 2-day history of painful, ulcerative lesions of the mouth and a 1-day history of fever to a temp of 103degF. He refuses to eat. On examination he is irritable, temp of 102degF, and has numerous erythematous, ulcerative lesions on buccal mucosa, & tongue Diagnosis is?

This patient most likely has herpetic gingivostomatitis, the most common type of gingivostollatitis in children. Herpetic gingivostomatitis is characterized by painful, erythematous, edematous, and ulcerative lesions that occur on the buccal mucosa, gums, and, occasionally, the hard palate and tongue. There usually is a fever, which may be quite high. Herpetic gingivostomatitis may be so severe that a child refuses to eat or drink. Although her angina occurs during the summer and is associated with fever, the oral lesions of herpangina are located in the posterior pharynx. The oral lesions of aphthous stomatitis may appear anywhere on the oral mucosa but are localized as a single, shallow ulcer or a small cluster of ulcers and are not associated with fever.