Molecular epidemiology of HFMD-associated pathogen coxsackievirus A6 in Fujian Province, 2011-2013

• Published in: Bingdu xuebao Vol. 30; no. 6; p. 624
• Main Authors: Chen, Wei, Weng, Yu-wei, He, Wen-xiang, Zhang, Yong-jun, Yang, Xiu-hui, Meng, Huang, Xie, Jian-feng, Wang, Jin-zhang, Zheng, Kui-cheng, Yan, Yan-sheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: China 01.11.2014
• Subjects: Child; Child, Preschool; China - epidemiology; Enterovirus A, Human - classification; Enterovirus A, Human - genetics; Enterovirus A, Human - isolation & purification; Evolution, Molecular; Female; Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease - epidemiology; Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease - virology; Humans; Infant; Male; Molecular Epidemiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Phylogeny; China
• ISSN: 1000-8721

In order to characterize the molecular epidemiology of HFMD-associated Coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6) in Fujian Province, a total of 1340 specimens from non-EV71 non-CVA16 HFMD patients were collected during 2011-2013. Isolated virus strains were identified and subtyped. Full-length coding regions for the VP1 gene of the predominant serotype CVA6 isolates were amplified and sequenced. Among the 375 non-EV71 non-CVA16 HFMD cases confirmed by virus isolation and molecular subtyping, 182 (48.5%) were found to be caused by CVA6, accounting for 7.9%, 16.2% and 39.6% HFMD-associated enteroviruses in FujianProvince during 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively. Compared with general features observed in the HFMD epidemic, no difference in CVA6-specificity or severity rates was observed between geographical origins, gender, or age groups. Nucleotide sequence analyses of VP1 genes revealed high diversity levels of 16.2%-18.6% among CVA6 strains from Fujian Province, in contrast to the prototype CVA6 strain, and showed low level