Epidemiological characteristics and pathogen spectrum changes of hand-foot-mouth disease in Anhui province from 2015 to 2022 / 安徽医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective @#To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and pathogen spectrum of hand，foot mouth disease (HFMD) in Anhui province from 2015 to 2022，and to provide scientific evidence for prevention and control measures of HFMD．@*Methods @# The surveillance data of hand，foot and mouth disease in Anhui province from 2015 to 2022 were analyzed by descriptive epidemiology. Real-time PCR was used to detect and classify HFMD samples. @*Results @#A total of 650 590 HFMD cases were reported in Anhui province from 2015 to 2022，including 1 406 se- vere cases and 17 deaths．The annual reported incidence was 131. 45 /100 000．The epidemic features of“low incidence in odd years and high incidence in even years”were presented from 2015 to 2019．The incidence showed a continuous decline from 2020 to 2022．The monthly distribution showed the characteristics of bimodal epidemic，and the main peak was not obvious in 2020．Hefei，Fuyang，Bozhou，Chuzhou and Suzhou ranked the top five cities in terms of cumulative incidence．The age of onset was mainly distributed in children aged 5 years and below，accounting for 89. 26% of the total cases．The male to female ratio was 1. 48 ∶ 1．A total of 28 657 laboratory-confirmed cases had been reported from 2015 to 2022．EV71 cases accounted for 10. 57% ，Cox A16 cases accounted for 24. 90% ，and other enterovirus cases accounted for 64. 53%．The dominant pathogens showed dynamic changes in different years．Since 2018，the proportion of EV71 decreased significantly，and the proportion of other enteroviruses gradually increased to become the dominant pathogens．Among other enteroviruses，Cox A6 strain was dominant (80. 48% ) ．@*Conclusion @# This study suggests that the prevention and control of HFMD in Anhui province should be paid more attention from April to July and from October to December．The focus areas are the cities in northern Anhui and Hefei where the floating population is large．The focus of prevention and control is on children aged 5 years and below．Other enteroviruses have become the dominant pathogens of hand-foot-mouth disease in Anhui province，Cox A6 strain is dominant.