The Emergence of Coxsackievirus A16 Subgenotype B1c: A Key Driver of the Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease Epidemic in Guangdong, China

作者：Huiling Zeng, Huiling Zeng, Biao Zeng, Lina Yi, Lin Qu, Jiadian Cao, Fen Yang, Haiyi Yang, Chunyan Xie, Yuxi Yan, Wenwen Deng, Shuling Li, Yingtao Zhang, Baisheng Li, Jing Lu, Hanri Zeng, Hanri Zeng · 发表于：Viruses · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3390/v17020219 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Viral Infections and Immunology Research、Herpesvirus Infections and Treatments、Animal Disease Management and Epidemiology

BACKGROUND: In 2024, mainland China witnessed a significant upsurge in Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) cases. Coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) is one of the primary causative agents of HFMD. Long-term monitoring of theCVA16 infection rate and genotype changes is crucial for the prevention and control of HFMD. METHODS: A total of 40,673 clinical specimens were collected from suspected HFMD cases in Guangdong province from 2018 to 2024, including rectal swabs (n = 27,954), throat swabs (n = 6791), stool (n = 5923), cerebrospinal fluid (n = 3), and herpes fluid (n = 2). A total of 24,410 samples were detected as EV-positive and further typed by RT-PCR. A total of 872 CVA16-positive samples were isolated and further sequenced to obtain the full-length VP1 sequence. Phylogenetic analysis was performed based on viral protein 1 gene (VP1). RESULTS: In the first 25 weeks of 2024, reported cases of HFMD were 1.36 times higher than the mean rates of 2023. In 2024, CVA16 predominated at 75.42%, contrasting with the past etiological pattern in which the CVA6 was predominant with the detection rate ranging from 32.85 to 77.61% from 2019 to 2023. Phylogenetic analysis based on the VP1 gene revealed that the B1a and B1b subtypes co-circulated in Guangdong from 2018 to 2022. The B1c outbreak clade, detected in Guangdong in 2023, constituted 68.24% of the 148 strains of CVA16 collected in 2024, suggesting a subtype shift in the CVA16 virus. There were three specific amino acid variations (P3S,...