Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 59 hand foot and mouth disease cases caused by Cox A6 in Shiyan, Hubei

Objective To understand the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of hand foot and mouth disease(HFMD)caused by Cox A6,and provide reference for the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control of HFMD. Methods A total of 570 specimens were collected from clinical diagnosed HFMD cases in Shiyan from October 2012 to September 2013, the identification and subtyping of the isolates were conducted with real-time fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR. The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of laboratory confirmed HFMD cases caused by Cox A6 were analyzed. Results In 440 laboratory confirmed HFMD cases, 59 were caused by Cox A6 (13.41%). All the cases were children aged5 years and 86.44% were children aged3 years. The cases in children outside child care settings and in child care setting accounted for 83.05% and 16.95% respectively. The cases occurred all the year round with the peak during October-November. One cluster of the cases was observed and all cases had rash on hand, foot, mouth or buttock, among these cases, 34.53% had fever, 87.72% had stomatitis, 26.32% had respiratory symptoms, 3 had high blood cell count. Conclusion Cox A6 is one of important pathogens to cause typical HFMD. It is necessary to strengthen the surveillance and research of Cox A6.