A ‘cure’ for hand, foot and mouth disease? Shanghai team say D5 antibody can spare kids from outbreaks fed by enterovirus 71

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Major outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) have been caused by EV71, which was first discovered in 1969. Hundreds of children, mainly in Asia, continue to die from this each year. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:31am, 9 Mar 2016Updated: 12:53pm, 12 Jun 2017

A research team in Shanghai claim to have developed a highly effective antibody that could severely curb the spread of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), which has been afflicting children, mostly in Asia, for decades.

The antibody is for enterovirus 71, the most malicious viral strain that causes the infection. EV71 can also cause meningitis and encephalitis in young children. From 2003 to 2013, it resulted in over 2,000 casualties from about six million infections, according to an earlier study reported in The Lancet.

Hundreds of thousands of children in mainland China contract it every year from April to June, with the annual death toll reaching into the hundreds, statistics show.

An outbreak further south in Cambodia killed over 50 kids in 2012, and the following year China revealed that it was working on a vaccine that was 90 per cent effective and offered protection for at least 12 months against HFMD caused by the enterovirus.

HFMD starts with fever, painful sores in the mouth, and a rash of blisters on the hands, feet and buttocks, followed in some cases by more serious neurological, cardiovascular and breathing problems. Severe cases can lead to brain damage or death. It usually affects children under five.

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