First Vaccine for Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease On the Way

A new vaccine can prevent children from contracting the contagious and deadly hand, foot and mouth disease, researchers say.  

A team of Chinese scientists have developed a vaccine to protect children against enterovirus 71 (EV71) that causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a contagious viral infection that normally affects children younger than 5 years of age. The disease appears with ulcers in the mouth, fever and skin rashes.  Coxsackievirus A 16 and enterovirus 71 from the enterovirus family are the most common viruses that cause the disease in the United States. However, until date, there exists no medication or vaccine for the disease, which spreads through saliva, fluid from blisters or discharge from the nose and throat.

According to the background information provided in the study, EV71, discovered in 1969, is the main culprit behind making more than 6 million people sick, and killing 2,000 people around the world in the recent past.

To test the effectiveness of the vaccine in protecting children against the disease, researchers included 10,245 children aged between 6 and 35 months from four different places in China. Of the total number of children, about 5,120 took the vaccine in two sessions and the rest were given a placebo-based treatment. The findings, reported in The Lancet, found that the vaccine provided 90 percent protection against hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) caused by EV71. The vaccine was also 100 percent effective in preventing EV71-related hospitalization.  The trials also showed the safety of the vaccine and eliminated risks of any severe side effects. Apart from that, it was also found to be 80.4 percent effective against neurological complications associated with EV17.

However, the study couldn't prove the vaccine's power to protect kids against coxsackievirus A (CA) 16 or other strains that cause hand, foot and mouth disease.

"The EV71 vaccine might have little part in reducing the overall incidence of HFMD, even by universal mass immunisation of children," the researchers said in a news release.