Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease Outbreak and Coxsackievirus A6, Northern Spain, 2011

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To the Editor: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is an acute, febrile viral infection characterized by vesicular exanthema on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and oral mucosa. The infection is transmitted through oral and respiratory secretions, vesicular fluid, and/or feces of affected persons. The most common etiologic agents are coxsackievirus (CV) A16 and human enterovirus (HEV) 71, but other HEVs, mainly belonging to species A, have also been associated with illness (1). HFMD mainly affects infants and children <5 age.="" of="" p="" years="">On May 10, 2011, an outbreak of HFMD was reported in a daycare center in the city of Irun in Basque Country, Spain. Monitoring subsequently was conducted for HFMD cases among children in the health district that contained the daycare center (a total of 4,540 children <14 37="" 5="" a="" age="" amplification="" amplified="" an="" and="" bio-m="" by="" children="" clinics.="" collected="" confirmation="" considered="" dermal="" described="" detected="" directly="" easy-mag="" enterovirus="" extracted="" exudate="" feces="" fever="" for="" fragment="" france="" from="" hfmd="" href="http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/4/12-1589_article.htm#r2" in-house="" in="" marcy-l="" methods.="" mouth="" multiple="" of="" on="" or="" outpatient="" palms="" patients.="" patients="" pcr="" pediatricians="" pharyngeal="" primers="" rash="" real-time="" region="" representative="" rieux="" rna="" selected="" sentinel="" soles="" specimens="" that="" the="" title="2" toile="" uclisens="" untranslated="" used="" using="" vesicular="" viral="" virologic="" was="" were="" with="" within="" years="">2

). For genotyping, the viral protein 1 gene was amplified by using described methods (3), followed by partial sequencing of the obtained amplicons by using the 3130XL Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). Control measures recommended were frequent and careful handwashing with soap and running water by children and staff and increasing the cleaning of surfaces and objects in daycare centers and nursery schools.During April–September 2011, a total of 99 cases of HFMD were notified; 53 patients were boys. Twenty-five cases occurred in the daycare center, all before May 13 (attack rate 55.6%), and 74 were community acquired, occurring mainly after that date. All cases occurred in children <4 1.8="" 12="" 77="" 89="" a="" addition="" age="" and="" buttocks="" cases="" children="" did="" extend="" face.="" hfmd="" highest="" hospitalized.="" in="" incidence="" inhabitants="" median="" months="" none="" not="" occurred="" of="" on="" or="" p="" palms="" papulovesicular="" patients="" perioral="" rash="" rest="" showed="" soles="" that="" the="" to="" were="" years="">Enterovirus was detected in 49 samples (28 pharyngeal, 2 dermal, 19 fecal) from 33 HFMD patients. For 30 of these patients, the samples were sufficient for genotyping. CVA6 was detected in 27 (90%) patients and CVA10 in 2 (7%) patients; for 1 patient, no genotype was obtained. Seven (7%) of the 99 children with HFMD were brought for medical assistance for onychomadesis during the 9–67 days after the HFMD episode. In 2 of them, HFMD had been virologically confirmed as being caused by CVA6.
Our results suggest that CVA6 can cause HFMD outbreaks that develop rapidly and reach a high incidence in children. Despite the mildness of the disease, the high attack rate in the daycare center alarmed families and staff. HFMD is not subject to epidemiologic surveillance in Spain, and thus its real incidence cannot be identified.

Figure

Thumbnail of Phylogenetic analysis of the partial viral protein 1 gene sequence (positions 2929–3348, based on strain Shizuoka-18, GenBank accession no. AB678778) of coxsackievirus A6 isolated from distinct patients with hand, foot, and mouth disease detected in Irun, Spain, April–September 2011, compared with the Gdula prototype strain and other representative strains. Black dots indicate the strains in this study (GenBank accession nos. JX845228–JX845243 and KC431245–431253). The tree was cons

Figure. . . Phylogenetic analysis of the partial viral protein 1 gene sequence (positions 2929–3348, based on strain Shizuoka-18, GenBank accession no. AB678778) of coxsackievirus A6 isolated from distinct patients with hand,...

Although CVA6 has long been known to cause HFMD (1), it has not usually been considered to play a major role in this disease. Except in a few countries, CVA6 has been infrequently detected until recent years. However, since 2008, this virus has caused major outbreaks of HFMD in some countries of eastern Asia and Europe and, more recently, in the United States (4–9); the CVA6 strains in this outbreak shared >97% of nucleotide identities in the viral protein 1 gene and showed sequence similarity >94% with the strains that caused these outbreaks. These strains segregated in a phylogenetic tree (Figure), supporting the recent international spread of emerging CVA6 genetic variants (4). In Taiwan and Japan, the emergence of these strains has been associated with a change in the predominant clinical expression of the infections produced by CVA6, from herpangina before 2009 to HFMD in 2010–2011 (7,8). The development of a perioral rash has also been associated to HFMD caused by CVA6 (10).
Although the course of HFMD is usually self-limiting, illness and death rates vary among outbreaks. Severe illness is more frequent in outbreaks caused by HEV71 (1); in outbreaks caused by CVA6 in Taiwan and the United States, the illness affected a broader spectrum of skin sites and was associated with more severe and extensive rash than was HFMD caused by other coxsackieviruses (7,9).
In conclusion, reports of HFMD outbreaks associated with CVA6 are increasing. Improved HFMD surveillance is required, with virus genotyping as a key element.

Milagrosa Montes, Juncal Artieda, Luis D. Piñeiro, Marina Gastesi, Inmaculada Diez-Nieves, and Gustavo Cilla

Author affiliations: Author affiliations: Hospital Universitario Donostia-Instituto Biodonostia, San Sebastián, Spain (M. Montes, L.D. Piñeiro, G. Cilla); Biomedical Research Centre Network for Respiratory Diseases, San Sebastián (M. Montes, G. Cilla); Public Health Division of Gipuzkoa, Basque Government, San Sebastián (J. Artieda); Research Centre Network for Epidemiology and Public Health, San Sebastián (J. Artieda); Health Centre of Osakidetza Basque Health Service, Irun, Spain (M. Gastesi, I. Diez-Nieves)

Acknowledgment

We thank María M. Yagüe, María J. Llorens, and Guido Castillo for help identifying cases and collecting samples from this outbreak.

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Figure

Figure. . . Phylogenetic analysis of the partial viral protein 1 gene sequence (positions 2929–3348, based on strain Shizuoka-18, GenBank accession no. AB678778) of coxsackievirus A6 isolated from distinct patients with...

Suggested citation for this article: Montes M, Artieda J, Piñeiro LD, Gastesi M, Diez-Nieves I, Cilla G. Hand, foot, and mouth disease outbreak and coxsackievirus A6, northern Spain, 2011 [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2013 Apr [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1904.121589