Background: As the highly contagious hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) spreads rapidly among children, isolation is the most effective way to control its spread. However, studies on the duration of virus shedding of the HFMD-related enterovirus and a reasonable quarantine period for HFMD patients are inconsistent.
Methods: We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the viral shedding of patients with HFMD caused by Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) and coxsackievirus A6.
Results: A total of 17 observational studies evaluating 626 participants were included. In the first 5 weeks after onset, the pooled virus positive rate in specimens of EV71-related patients decreased from 0.79 (P < 0.001 for heterogeneity) to 0.38 (P < 0.001 for heterogeneity). The positive rate of CVA16 was reduced from 0.91 (P < 0.001 for heterogeneity) to 0.29 (P < 0.001 for heterogeneity). The positive rates of CVA16 and coxsackievirus A6 were approximately 50% in the third week after onset, while a 50% positive rate appeared in the fourth week in EV71 related cases.
Conclusions: We found the positive rates of virus shedding were still high among the patients released from quarantine, and the duration of viral shedding was inconsistent among HFMD patients caused by different serotypes. Our findings provide comprehensive evidence for a possible flexible quarantine period according to the serotype.
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