The dynamics of the hand, foot and mouth disease epidemic from 2008 to 2016 in Zhenjiang city, China

Aim: To investigate the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) epidemic in Zhenjiang, China from 2008 to 2016. Materials & methods: A total of 37,202 HFMD cases were investigated and 3707 nasopharyngeal swabs were detected for enterovirus RNA using RT-quantitative PCR. Results: We first reported a mixed pattern of HFMD seasonal epidemic with a combination of single-peak and two-peak patterns in alternate years, and the occurrence of sporadic and epidemic outbreaks of HFMD in kindergartens in Zhenjiang. Children younger than 4 years of age were highly vulnerable to HFMD, and home children and boys had higher risk to develop severe HFMD than nursery children and girls, respectively. Among tested samples, 1709 (46.1%) were detected as enterovirus RNA positive. Conclusion: This study first presents the dynamic of the HFMD epidemic in Zhenjiang from 2008 to 2016.