Distribution and risk factors of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Changchun, northeastern China

Abstract

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a public health problem, and there have been increasing numbers of outbreaks in mainland China since 2008. Over 17,000 HFMD cases have been reported in Changchun between 2008 and 2011. This study characterized the temporal and spatial distribution of the disease and identified the risk factors for HFMD. The main findings were as follows: (i) there were significant differences in HFMD incidence among age groups, with 86.8 % of reported cases in children younger than 5 years old, and boys showed a higher incidence than girls (<6 years); (ii) The disease affected the whole region and spanned a large geographic area, but there was a higher incidence in urban areas (median = 242 per 10,000 persons) and urban-rural border areas (median = 135 per 10,000 persons), compared with rural areas (median = 75 per 10,000 persons); and (iii) the incidence of HFMD in Changchun was significantly associated with the distance to the nearest freeway, GDP per capita, and the type of township. © 2014 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.