Abstract:

Objective  To understand the entervirous type and infection status of hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD)in population in Suzhou city for scientific evidence to plan preventive and control strategies for this entity. Methods  The specimens were collected from patients clinically diagnosed HFMD in the sentinel hospitals in Suzhou areas from 2012 to 2014, and detected for the pathogens with real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-PCR). Then the nucleic acid of enterovirus identified was analyzed. Results  In the 962 samples, positive nucleic acid sequence was identified in 384(39.92%), of which 154(40.10%) and 144(37.50%) were associated with EV71 and CoxA16, and the remaining 86(22.40%) were infected with other strains. Of the 384 patients, 247 were males and 137 females. The positive rate was not significant between genders(χ2=0.83, P＞0.05), yet higher positive rate for the nucleic acid sequence was found in patient group aged one years and two years(73.18%). The peak prevalence of HFMD was in March and April, June and July, during which the CoxA16 and EV71 were prominent, and EV71 dominated between October and December. The highest positive rate for nucleic acid sequence was seen the densely-populated areas, including Xiaoxian County and Yongqiao area, which accounted for 50.21% and 42.18%, respectively. Conclusion  EV71 and CoxA16 are the major pathogens causing HFMD in population in Suzhou city, and children aged 3 years or under are mostly affected. The prevalence is commonly seen in March and April, June and July, suggesting that prevention and control as well as monitoring and treatment of this disease should be strengthened in these two seasons and children of 3 years of age and younger.

Key words: Hand-Foot-Mouth disease, Real-Time PCR, EV71, Cox A16, Suzhou City