Epidemiological analysis of hand-foot-mouth disease in Yuyao City from 2008 to 2010

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of 4 975 patients with hand-foot-mouth diseases in Yuyao City during May 2008-April 2010, so as to provide the scientific basis for the prevention and control of HFMD.Methods The collection of data on HFMD was done for statistical analysis and epidemiological description.Results A total of 4 975 cases of HFMD were reported in Yuyao during May 2008-April 2010, the incidence peak being April to July. The 95.98 percentage of total patients were children under 5 years of age, of whom the incidence of children under 3 years accounted for 79.06%. The ratio of male and female was 1.57∶1. Most of the HFMD patients were diaspora children, who accounted for 61.11% and lived in city areas.Those by laboratory tests EV71 accounted for 46.38%, and by CoxA16 35.75%.Conclusion The incidence peak was observed during April and July. Most reported cases were children under 5 years age. The majority of reported cases were caused by EV71 or CoxA16. The incidence peak of HFMD and the risk populations should be considered in the development of prevention and control measures.