An epidemic analysis of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Zunyi, China between 2012 and 2014

OBJECTIVES To re-evaluate the epidemiology of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in a non-vaccinated population in Zunyi, China. METHODS We used laboratory-based data from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical College, Zunyi, China to assess the epidemiology of the HFMD caused by enteroviruses between January 2012 and November 2014. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to determine human enteroviruses from a total of 12313 probable cases enrolled in this retrospective study. All analyses were stratified by enterovirus serotype, gender, and age. RESULTS Virological results were available for 12313 cases of probable HFMD. A total of 5750 cases were positive for viral detection, and the positive rates of infection caused by other enteroviruses was 46.7%, EV71 9%, and CVA16 4.7%. During the study period there was a substantial increase in the occurrence of HFMD. Most of the HFMD patients (87.4%) were aged 0-59 months (median 24; range 0-59). Males showed a higher HFMD prevalence rate (62.4%) than females (37.6%). CONCLUSION Enterovirus infection remains an important public health problem and other entroviruses are emerging as the major causative agent of the HFMD in Zunyi, China.