Epidemiology of hand foot and mouth disease in Changping district in Beijing, 2010

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Changping district in 2010 and provide evidence for the prevention and control of the disease. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the incidence data of HFMD in Changping and statistical analysis was conducted by using Excel 2007 and SPSS 17.0 software. Results The cases were distributed in the zone joining urban and rural areas where large number of floating population lived. The incidence of the disease peaked during May-July. The majority of cases were children aged 5 years, accounting for 93.47%. Most cases were children in child care settings, children outside child care settings and students, accounting for 98.95%. The male to female ratio of the cases was 1.57∶1. The clustering of HFMD cases mainly occurred in child care settings. Up to 80.46% of the severe and all deaths occurred in children aged 3 years. EV71 and other enteric virus were the major pathogens Conclusion The time, area, gender and age specific differences on the incidence of HFMD were significant. The emphasis of the disease prevention and control should focus on the HFMD cases clustering in child care settings, and the early diagnosis and treatment of severe cases should be strengthened to reduce the case fatality.