Vaccine found to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease

The first vaccine to protect children against hand, foot and mouth disease has been announced by Chinese scientists.

Hand, foot and mouth disease causes painful rashes and in some cases can lead to brain infections, which can be fatal.

A trial of 10,000 children, published in the Lancet, found the new vaccine was 90% effective against one type of the virus that causes the disease. But it did not protect against other types of the virus that cause the disease.

Viruses can cause outbreaks of hand, foot, and mouth disease. In 2009, a major outbreak occurred in China, affecting 1.2 million people. Nearly 14,000 people suffered severe complications and 353 died.

A team of researchers in Jiangsu Province and Beijing tested a vaccine made from inactivated enterovirus 71 (EV71), which causes the disease. The vaccine was tested on children aged 6 to 35 months. They prevented 90% of cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease caused by EV71.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is caused by many other viruses, such as Coxsackie virus A16 and even other strains of EV71, so this vaccine cannot eliminate the disease completely.

According to Hanoi Moi - TH