Risk factors for hand, foot, and mouth disease caused by coxsackievirus a6 in children under 6 years of age in tianjin, china: A case-control study

Abstract

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) due to Coxsackievirus A6 (CV-A6) has demonstrated an increasing trend in China. Our study aimed to explore the risk factors of HFMD cases infected with CV-A6 among children under 6 years of age in Tianjin, China. The non-matching case-control study included cases which were HFMD patients infected with CV-A6 while controls were HFMD patients infected with other enteroviruses. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the risk factors of HFMD cases infected with CV-A6. A total of 1,264 eligible cases were included in our study, including 589 cases and 675 controls. Our study suggests that CV-A6 infected HFMD patients were more likely to present with fever and rash on limbs, and home-care children and children having a history of contacting HFMD patient had a high risk of infection with CV-A6, while toy sterilization regularly at home and parents’ hand-washing habits after toilet use were protective factors for children against CV-A6 infection.