Hand-foot-mouth disease surveillance in Guangzhou from 2005 to 2008.

Objective To analyze the etiological and epidemiological characteristics of hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD)in Guangzhou.The result will be used for the control of HFMD.Methods Descriptive epidemiological method,performed between 2005-2008,was used to analyze the HFMD data.Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was used for sample analysis.Results Seasonal variation in the incidence of HFMD was found.The epidemical peak was between May to July.High risk population was the preschool children of 2～4 years old,with an incidence rate of 15000 per million.The incidence of HFMD in male was significantly higher than the female's.EV71(43.28%) was the major pathogen responsible for the severe and lethal infection.Conclusion HFMD is one of the major epidemic diseases in Guangzhou.The prevention and control measures should be strengthened in the kindergarten and the community in summer and autumn.