Suppression of innate and acquired immunity in severe hand foot and mouth disease caused by EV71 infections in children

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common children infectious disease caused by human enteroviruses. Most of the cases have minimal symptoms, however, some patients may develop serious neurological, cardiac complications, or even death. The pathological mechanism leading to severe HFMD is not clearly understood, and the immunological status of the individual patient may play an important role. Transcriptomes of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from EV71-infected patients (n = 45) and healthy controls (n = 36) were examined.