Clinical and laboratory features of severe cases of hand, foot and mouth diseases in Wenzhou / 中华临床感染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical and laboratory features of severe cases of hand,foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. Methods Clinical data of 107 children with HFMD, including 97 severe and 10 critical cases treated in Children' s Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical College during January and May 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. One hundred and fifty children with mild HFMD were also selected as the controls. Clinical features and laboratory results were compared between the two groups. Results Fever, rash and infection in central nervous system were observed in all patients with severe HFMD, and symptoms on respiratory, digestive and cardiovascular systems were more serious than those of mild HFMD cases. White blood cell counts (WBC) were higher in severe group than those in controls (t = 12.72, P ＜0.01). Hyperglycemia (9. 2 mmol/L) and abnormal troponin (0. 3 -9. 0 ng/mL) were presented in all the critical patients. Cerebrospinal fluid WBC counts were raised in 97 severe HFMD patients (98.5 × 106/L for average) with predominance of lymphocytes. Among 107 severe patients, EV71 was positive in 70, including all 10 critical cases. Conclusion Involvement of nervous,respiratory and digestive symptoms is common in severe cases of HFMD, and EV71 is the predominant pathogen.