Infection status of enterovirus in healthy population during foot hand and mouth disease epidemic period in Nanyang, Henan, 2012-2014

Objective To understand the infection status of enterovirus in healthy population during hand foot and mouth disease (HEMD) epidemic period in Nanyang, Henan province. Methods From 2012 to 2014, 100 healthy people in 10 age groups were selected each year, and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was conducted to detect nucleic acid of enterovirus isolated from the stool samples and throat swabs collected from them. Results Among the 300 healthy people, the EV infection rate was 42.67%. Children aged5 years were mainly affected. The difference in infection rate between males and females had no statistical significance (2=0.587,P0.05). No EV71 and Cox A16 were detected. Conclusion Enterovirus is widely distributed in healthy population.