Clinical Features and Peripheral Blood T Lymphocyte Subsets in Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease According to Different Pathogens.

Objective: To investigate the changes in lymphocyte subsets that are caused by infection with different pathogens in children with hand, foot, and mouth disease.

Methods: T lymphocyte subsets were measured in the patients' peripheral blood, and serum, throat swab, and fecal samples were tested for enterovirus.

Results: Fecal and throat swab samples exhibited similar positive detection rates, and were significantly more likely to be positive, compared to serum samples (P < 0.01). The EV71-positive group exhibited significantly lower CD4 + TM cell counts (QR: 1.058), compared to the CD4 + TM cell counts in the CoxA16-positive group (QR: 1.391; P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Throat swab and fecal samples exhibited significantly higher positive detection rates, compared to serum samples. In addition, EV71-infected children exhibited significantly lower CD4+ T-cell counts, compared to CoxA16-infected children, which suggests that EV71 infection may be associated with a poorer prognosis.