State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, and Chinese-French Liver Disease Research Institute at Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
PLoS One. 2011;6(9):e25287. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025287. Epub 2011 Sep 28.
Recent outbreaks of human enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection and EV71-associated hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in China have affected millions and potentially lead to life-threatening complications in newborns. Furthermore, these outbreaks represent a significant global public health issue in the world. Understanding the epidemiology of HFMD and EV71 infection and their transmission patterns in China is essential for controlling outbreaks. However, no studies on the outbreaks of HFMD and EV71 infection in China during 2010 have been reported. In this report, we carried out an epidemiological analysis to study an outbreak of HFMD and EV71 infection in 2010 in the city of Nanchang in the Jiangxi province of People's Republic of China. From April 7 to May 11, 2010, a total of 109 HFMD cases were reported, and in this report the HFMD cases were studied by both epidemiological and laboratory analyses. The epidemiological study indicates that children aged younger than 8 years old represented more than 90% of the reported cases, with the age group of 1-3 years containing the highest number of cases. Laboratory studies detected a high prevalence of EV71 amongst the cases in our study, suggesting EV71 as a common enterovirus found in HFMD cases in Nanchang. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequence of the VP1 region of four EV71 isolates indicated that the Nanchang strains belong to the C4 subgenotype commonly found in China during outbreaks in 2008 but contain distinct variations from these strains. Our study for the first time characterizes the epidemiology of HFMD and EV71 infection in China in 2010 and furthermore, provides the first direct evidence of the genotype of EV71 circulating in Nanchang, China. Our study should facilitate the development of public health measures for the control and prevention of HFMD and EV71 infection in at-risk individuals in China.
近年来，中国发生了多起人类肠道病毒 71 型（EV71）感染和 EV71 相关手足口病（HFMD）疫情，影响了数百万人，可能导致新生儿出现危及生命的并发症。此外，这些疫情是全球公共卫生领域的一个重大问题。了解中国 HFMD 和 EV71 感染的流行病学及其传播模式对于控制疫情至关重要。然而，目前尚无关于 2010 年中国 HFMD 和 EV71 感染疫情的报道。在本报告中，我们对 2010 年江西省南昌市手足口病和 EV71 感染疫情进行了流行病学分析。2010 年 4 月 7 日至 5 月 11 日，共报告手足口病 109 例，本报告对该疫情进行了流行病学和实验室分析。流行病学研究表明，报告病例中 90%以上为 8 岁以下儿童，年龄组为 1-3 岁的病例最多。实验室研究发现，本研究中病例的 EV71 检出率较高，提示 EV71 是南昌市手足口病中常见的肠道病毒。对 4 株 EV71 分离株 VP1 区序列的系统进化分析表明，南昌株属于我国 2008 年流行株中的 C4 亚组，但与该组其他株存在明显差异。本研究首次描述了 2010 年中国 HFMD 和 EV71 感染的流行病学特征，并首次提供了中国南昌流行的 EV71 基因型的直接证据。本研究应有助于制定针对高危人群的手足口病和 EV71 感染的公共卫生措施，以控制和预防中国的疫情。
