Abstract
Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is an emerging human pathogen causing massive epidemics of hand, foot and mouth disease with severe neurological complications in Asia. EV71 also circulates in Europe, however it does not cause large outbreaks. The reason for distinct epidemiological patterns of EV71 infection in Europe and Asia and the risk of EV71 epidemic in Europe and Russia remain unknown. Seroepidemiology of EV71 and molecular epidemiology of occasional EV71 isolates were studied to explore circulation of EV71 in Russia. In six regions of Russian Federation, seroprevalence of EV71 in sera collected in 2008 ranged from 5% to 20% in children aged 1–2 years and from 19% to 83% in children aged 3–5 years. The seroprevalence among elder children was significantly higher (41–83% vs. 19–27%) in Asian regions of Russia. EV71 strains identified in Russia in 2001–2011 belonged to subtypes C1 and C2, while genotype C4 that was causing epidemics in Asia since 1998 emerged in 2009 and became dominant in 2013.
Highlights
Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of 19 serotypes within the species Human Enterovirus A (HEV-A)
EV71 infection is often asymptomatic, it can manifest as hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), severe encephalitis, and polio-like disease [2]
In Russia, no outbreaks of HFMD or neuroinfection caused by EV71 have been registered before 2013, and no studies of EV71 epidemiology have been carried out
Summary
Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of 19 serotypes within the species Human Enterovirus A (HEV-A). In Asia, EV71 has been causing extensive epidemics of HFMD and occasional neuroinfection, especially in the last 15 years (reviewed in [3]). In Europe, large outbreaks of polio-like disease caused by EV71 occurred in Bulgaria in 1975 and in Hungary in 1978. Thereafter, EV71 did not attract major attention until recently, when widespread asymptomatic circulation and detection from isolated neurological cases and minor outbreaks were reported from several European countries [5,6,7,8]. In Russia, no outbreaks of HFMD or neuroinfection caused by EV71 have been registered before 2013, and no studies of EV71 epidemiology have been carried out. We studied seroepidemiology of EV71 in six regions of Russia and summarized occasional isolations of EV71 over 13 years
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