About Hand-foot-mouth Disease (EV 71) Vaccine
China has developed an inactivated vaccine against the enterovirus EV 71 that is often responsible for hand-foot-mouth disease in children. The vaccine is intended for susceptible children 6 months old- 5-year-old.
Two Vero cell-based EV71 inactivated whole virus vaccines with aluminium hydroxide consistently induced immune responses to EV71 in infants and young children, 6-35 months (Fengcai Zhu et al.) or 6-71 months (Rongcheng Li et al.) of age, following 2 intramuscular doses, for at least 1 year. A neutralizing antibody titer of 1:16 was associated with protection against EV71.
While these vaccines appear effective against the C4 strain of EV 71 (that is, the one that’s caused most epidemics in South East Asia), they do not provide cross-protection against other circulating lineages or against coxsackievirus A16 infection, which also triggers the same syndromes.
Schedule
Two 0.5 ml doses, 1 month apart, intramuscularly
Side Effects
The vaccine is well tolerated with minor common side effects such as local swelling, redness, and pain at the injection site that resolve within 24–72 hours and a grade 3 fever.
