A hand hygiene intervention to decrease Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease and absence due to sickness among kindergarteners in China: A cluster-randomized controlled trial

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has recently emerged in the Asia-Pacific region as the most severe epidemic disease affecting infants and young children (1). Children younger than five years old are especially susceptible to HFMD, as they do not yet have protective immunity to Enterovirus 71 (EV71) or Coxsackievirus virus A 16 (CV-A16), which are the common viral pathogens that lead to HFMD (2). Asymptomatic adult carriers of EV71 and CA16 are a major reservoir for the transmission of these viruses (3).

Source: Journal of Infection - August 19, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Xiaona Liu, Wanli Hou, Zhiguang Zhao, Jinquan Cheng, Ed F. van Beeck, Xiaodong Peng, Kylah Jones, Xia Fu, Yan Zhou, Zhen Zhang, Jan Hendrik Richardus, Vicki Erasmus Source Type: research