Etiology detection and analysis of 211 cases with hand, foot and mouth disease in 2012

Objective To investigate the distribution and variation of pathogens among pediatric patients with hand, foot and mouth diseases(HFMD) in Beijing Ditan Hospital, Peking University Teaching Hospital, in 2012, and to provide scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of HFMD. MethodsThroat swabs of 211 cases hospitalized in Division of Pediatrics, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Peking University Teaching Hospital, in 2012 were collected. Real-time fluorescence quantitative(RT-PCR) kits with universal enterovirus(EV) primers, Coxsackievirus A16(CoxA16)-specific primers and enterovirus 71(EV71)-specific primers were used to detect the samples after RNA extraction. The samples were identified as EV-positive, EV71-positive, CoxA16-positive, if they could be detected with EV primers, EV primers and EV71-specific primers, EV primers and CoxA16-specific primers, correspondingly. Non-EV71, non-CoxA16 enteroviruses referred to those which could be detected by EV primers, but not by EV71-specific primers or CoxA16-specific primers. Results There were 118 enterovirus positive cases among the 211 patients, accounting for 55.92%. Among them, the positive rates of non-EV71, non-CoxA16 enteroviruses, EV71 and CoxA16 were22.81%(46/211), 21.32%(45/211) and 12.80%(27/211), respectively. The peak incidence time of HFMD was from May to July. There were no significant differences between patients grouped by ages or genders in pathogen distribution. The detection positive rate of specimens collected within 3 days after admission was higher than 3 days later. There were no significant differences in the number of hospitalisation days between patients infected by different EVs. Conclusions In 2012, the positive rate of non-EV71 non-CoxA16 enteroviruses was higher than EV71, which was higher than CoxA16 in our study. There was an increasing trend of the positive rate of non-EV71 non-CoxA16 enteroviruses, which deserve future study.