Caregivers: the potential infection resources for the sustaining epidemic of hand, foot, and mouth disease/herpangina in Guangdong, China?

Archives of Public Health

Zhanzhong Ma¹  Xun Zhu²  Cuiji Lin²  Yan Chen³  Peipei Hu⁴  Lin Gan⁴  Dawei Wu⁴  Dingmei Zhang⁴  Jundi Liu⁵  Qimin Tan⁶  Xinqiao Huang⁶ 

[1] Clinical Laboratory, Yuebei People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shantou University Medical College, Shaoguan, China;Department of Microbiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China;Medical College of Shaoguan University, Shaoguan, China;School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China;School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China;Zhongshan Center for Diseases Prevention and Control, Zhongshan, China;Yonghe Community Health Service Center, Yongning Street, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou, China;

关键词: Hand, foot, and mouth disease;    Herpangina;    Caregivers;    Logistic regression analysis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13690-021-00574-8

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlthough several measures have been taken to control hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and herpangina (HA), these two diseases have been prevalent in China for 10 years with high incidence. We suspected that adults’ inapparent infection might be the cause of the continued prevalence of HFMD/HA infection in mainland China.MethodsTo explore the role of adults (especially caregivers) in the transmission process of HFMD/HA among children, 330 HFMD/HA cases and 330 healthy children (controls) were selected for a case–control study. Then, data were analyzed by logistic regression.ResultsSingle-variable analyses revealed that caregivers who tested positive for enterovirus was a significant risk factor of HFMD/HA transmission to children (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 9.22; 95% CI, 1.16 to 73.23). In the final multivariable model, caregiver behavior, such as cooling children’s food with mouth (OR = 1.85; 95% CI, 1.11 to 3.08) and feeding children with their own tableware (OR = 2.19; 95% CI, 1.07 to 4.45), significantly increased the risk of transmitting HFMD/HA to children. On the contrary, washing hands before feeding children reduced such risk.ConclusionsThese results implied that the caregivers might be the infectious source or carriers of enterovirus. Therefore, preventing or treating the caregivers’ enterovirus infection and improving their hygiene habits, especially when they are in contact with children, could provide a breakthrough for the effective control of HFMD/HA.

【 授权许可】

CC BY