Experimental vaccines protect children from hand, foot and mouth disease
Shots prevent cases resulting from enterovirus 71
HELP ON THE WAY New vaccines against hand, foot and mouth disease that are testing well in China might slow the scourge, which has hit parts of Asia especially hard.
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Google+N. Sarma et al/Indian J. Dermatol. 2009/Open-I, NLM/NIH
New vaccines designed to fend off a leading cause of hand, foot and mouth disease have proved highly effective. Two studies involving thousands of children in China depict the vaccines slamming the door on cases arising from enterovirus 71, a common cause.
Hand, foot and mouth disease typically strikes children and is spread by unsanitary conditions. Not to be confused with the livestock illness called hoof-and-mouth or foot-and-mouth disease, the human disease shows up as fever, sore throat and blisters on the hands, feet and mouth. In rare cases, complications arise such as fluid accumulation in the lungs, paralysis or brain inflammation. Some cases are fatal.
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