Objective: To explore the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of serious cases of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) infected by EV71, in order to provide scientific evidence for prevention and control of HFMD.
Methods: Information was collected by questionaires through consulting medical cases. Data was input by Epidata, and analysed by software SAS 9.13.
Result: 201 severe cases were investigated. 84.65% of the cases were below 3 years old. The youngest one was 5 months and the oldest one was 8 years old. The ratio for male and female was 2.2: 1.85. 08% of the cases were distributed sporadically. 51.74% of them lived in rural, 29.36% of them lived in urban and 19.9% of them lived at the fringe area of rural and urban. 81.59% of the cases became serious between 1 and 4 days after infected. 100% cases had fever and 99.95% of them had a rash. 96.52% of them had nerve system symptoms. The main complications were virulent spinal encephalitis, pneumonia and breathing exhaustion. 98.01% of the patients were recovered or cured.
Conclusion: The cases aged below 3 years old are high risk persons. Rural area and the fringe area of rural and urban are the key area for disease control. 1-4 days after onset is the key period to prevent complications.