Epidemiology of severe cases of hand foot and mouth disease in Beijing, 2009.

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of severe cases of hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Beijing and provide scientific evidence for the prevention and control of HFMD. Methods The analysis was conducted on the data of severe cases of HFMD in Beijing in 2009. Results Up to 97.06% of severe cases of HFMD were the children less than 5 years old and more boys were found than girls. The proportion of severe cases for children outside child care settings was higher than others. The severe case proportion became smaller in older age groups. The more rapidly the diagnosis of HFMD was made,the possibility to become severe case was smaller. The cases in floating population was 2 times more than that in local population and the cases caused by EV71 was 4.90 times more than that by CA16. Conclusion It is necessary to conduct health education among floating population to increase children parents'awareness of HFMD and reduce the incidence of severe case of HFMD.