Prevalence and genetic characteristics of Saffold cardiovirus in China from 2009 to 2012

Zhang, Xiao-Ai; Lu, Qing-Bin; Wo, Ying; Zhao, Jin; Huang, Dou-Dou; Guo, Chen-Tao; Xu, Hong-Mei; Liu, En-Mei; Liu, Wei; Cao, Wu-Chun

Information on the potential disease associations of SAFV has increased over the past six years, with data concentrated particularly on the involvement of SAFV in pediatric respiratory and gastrointestinal tract infections. In the current study, the prevalence of SAFV in pediatric patients in the recent four years in Chongqing, China was determined by performing molecular epidemiological investigation on three cohorts of patients. In addition to ARTI and diarrhea patients, an unexpected significantly higher prevalence of SAFV was found in HFMD patients, especially in patients with HFMD-associated encephalitis. Multiple genotypes of SAFV, which displayed geographic specific distribution pattern, were also found to be co-circulating in China. These data provided a reliable estimation based on a large sample size and long observation period, thereby expanding the understanding on the epidemiological features of SAFV.