PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zhang, Weiwei
AU  - Huang, Bo
AU  - She, Chaokun
AU  - Liu, Yan
AU  - Tong, Huabo
AU  - Wang, Fengxue
AU  - Wu, Kaifeng
TI  - An epidemic analysis of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Zunyi, China between 2012 and 2014
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2015.5.10859
DP  - 2015 May 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 593--598
VI  - 36
IP  - 5
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/36/5/593.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/36/5/593.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2015 May 01; 36
AB  - 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.