Occurrence pattern ; Children ; Hand-foot-mouth disease ; Enterovirus
Abstract
Purpose: Hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD) is usually a self-limiting infectious disorder of children by enterovirus, but occasionally causes admission due to complication. The admission pattern of HFMD would be helpful for its management, however there are a few studies for it. Methods: I collected the epidemiological data of HFMD 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 characteristics such as admission year, month, age, and sex. Results: There were 46 cases of HFMD admission for 10 years. It occurred from zero case in 2003 and 2005 to twelve cases in 2011. It has significantly increased from 2002 to 2011(P=0.002). It augmented from 2008 to 2009 by 1.75 times and from 2010 to 2011 by 1.70 times. The mean age of them was 2.0±1.1 years old. Forty-one cases(89.1%) were younger than 4 years old. The male to female ratios were significantly different among year(s) of 20022006, 2007-2010, and 2011(P=0.00003). They were frequently observed on July(23.9%), June(21.7%), May(17.4%), and September(13.0%). Month of peak incidence was delayed from June in 2009 to July in 2010. The occurrence duration was increased from 4 months in 2010 to 7 months in 2011. Conclusion: It has rapidly increased since 2008. It is frequently observed under four years old and from late spring to mid-summer. The epidemiological characteristics such as sex ratio and occurrence month are not the same by year. Continuous monitoring for its occurrence should be done.