헤르페스목구멍염으로 입원하는 소아 환자의 발생양상:최근 10년간(2002-2011) 용인지역

Abstract

Purpose: Herpangina is a contagious febrile disorder of children by enterovirus and occasionally causes an admission due to complication. Its epidemiologic features should be helpful for proper management, however there are a few studies for it in Korea. Methods: I collected the epidemiological data of herpangina patients retrospectively who had been diagnosed and admitted at the Department of Pediatrics, Yongin Severance Hospital, Yongin, Korea from January 2002 to December 2011. I investigated and analyzed their demographic characteristics such as admission year, month, age, and sex. Results: There were 260 cases of admission due to herpangina for 10 years. Annual cases were from seven cases in 2004 to fifty-six cases in 2007. There were three cyclic epidemics which showed incidence peaks in 2003, 2007, 2010. The mean age of them was 2.0±1.9 years old. Two hundred and forty-six cases(94.6%) were younger than 5 years old and peak age was 1 year old. The yearly mean ages were significantly different from each other such as 2007 vs 2009(P=0.006), 2009 vs 2011(P=0.006) and 2003 vs 2007(P=0.021). There were 140 boys and 120 girls. The annual male to female ratio was less than one in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010. One hundred and four cases(61.9%) were observed from April to August and twenty-nine cases(11.2%) in October. There were more than two incidence peaks in 2010 and one in 2003, 2007. Conclusion: Herpangina epidemic has happened in cyclic manner with 3-4 year intervals. The epidemiological characteristics such as age, sex, monthly occurrence pattern are not the same during each epidemic and inter-epidemic periods . Continuous monitoring for it should be carried on.