Epidemiological characteristics of hand-foot-mouth disease in Nanxiang Town from 2012 to 2016

ObjectiveTo investigate the epidemic characteristics of hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD) in Nanxiang Town of Shanghai in the past 5 years, and to provide reference for prevention and control of the HFMD.

Methods The epidemic data were analyzed to describe the HFMD in terms of time, location and distribution for the population.

Results From 2012 to 2016, a total of 2 663 cases of HFMD were reported, the average incidence rate being 335.24/10⁵.The months of high incidence were from April to July.The area of 8 villages and 24 neighborhood committees kept case reports.The ratio of male and female in incidence was 1.50:1;it was mainly seen in cases of infants aged 1-4 years, accounting for 79.80% of the total incidence; The top three occupation distributions were scattered children, child-care children and students, respectively accounting for 66.43%, 28.20% and 5%.

Conclusion The prevalence of the disease shows an increasing trend of epidemic intensity every other year.The months of high incidence are from April to July.It mainly occurrs to infants aged 1-4 years.