OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of serious cases of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) infected by EV71, in order to provide scientific evidence for prevention and control of HFMD.

METHODSInformation was collected by questionaires through consulting medical cases. Data was input by Epidata, and analysed by software SAS 9.13.

RESULT201 severe cases were investigated. 84.65% of the cases were below 3 years old. The youngest one was 5 months and the oldest one was 8 years old. The ratio for male and female was 2.2: 1.85. 08% of the cases were distributed sporadically. 51.74% of them lived in rural, 29.36% of them lived in urban and 19.9% of them lived at the fringe area of rural and urban. 81.59% of the cases became serious between 1 and 4 days after infected. 100% cases had fever and 99.95% of them had a rash. 96.52% of them had nerve system symptoms. The main complications were virulent spinal encephalitis, pneumonia and breathing exhaustion. 98.01% of the patients were recovered or cured.

CONCLUSIONThe cases aged below 3 years old are high risk persons. Rural area and the fringe area of rural and urban are the key area for disease control. 1-4 days after onset is the key period to prevent complications.