Epidemiological features of hand, foot, and mouth disease among children under 6 years in Wuxing District / 预防医学

ABSTRACT

Objective@# To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of hand, foot, and-mouth disease (HFMD) among children under 6 years in Wuxing District, Huzhou City from 2013 to 2021, so as to provide insights into HFMC control among children. @* Methods @#The surveillance on HFMD and enterovirus 71 (EV71) vaccination among children under 6 years in Wuxing District, Huzhou City from 2013 to 2021 were captured from China Disease Prevention and Control Information System, and the temporal, human and spatial distributions of HFMD cases and pathogenic detection results were descriptively analyzed.@*Results @#A total of 14 272 HFMD cases under 6 years were reported in Wuxing District from 2013 to 2021, with an average annual incidence rate of 465.75/104. There were 8 313 male children with HFMD (522.39/104 incidence) and 5 959 female children with HFMD (404.55/104 incidence), and higher incidence of HFMD was seen among male children than among female children (χ2=239.228, P<0.001). Most HFMD cases were found among children at ages of 1 to 3 years (10 006 cases, 70.11%), and the incidence of HFMD peaked during the period between May and July and between October and December each year. High incidence of HFMD was seen in Zhili Township (741.50/104), Yangjiabu Street (546.99/104) and Balidian Township (438.68/104). There were 717 laboratory-confirmed HFMD cases (5.02%), including 106 EV71-positive cases (14.78%) and 177 CoxA16-positive cases (24.69%). A total of 56 288 doses of EV71 vaccines were administered in Wuxing District from 2017 to 2021, with an annual average full-dose vaccination rate of 14.87%. The detection of EV71 infection was significantly lower after EV71 vaccination than before vaccination (4.49% vs. 24.93%; χ2=62.932, P<0.001).@* Conclusions @#The incidence of HFMD peaks in summer and winter among children under 6 years in Wuxing District, which predominantly occurs among children at ages of 1 to 3 years. The incidence of HFMD is high in Zhili Township, Yangjiabu Street and Balidian Township, and the number of EV71-positive cases significantly reduces after EV71 vaccination than before vaccination.