Chinese researchers have now developed a vaccine that can protect against the hand, foot and mouth disease. The team discovered a vaccine against a strain of enterovirus that causes the disease.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is caused by coxsackievirus A16, a member of the enterovirus family, and usually spreads during summer and early fall.
Some regions, especially Southeast Asia and Australia, have had major breakouts of the disease in the recent past. For example, in China, an outbreak of the hand, foot and mouth disease occurred in 2009. This particular outbreak included more than a million cases, with 353 deaths.
In particular, enterovirus 71 (EV71) is linked with a severe form of the disease in children. In the latest study, researchers found a vaccine against this EV71.
The study included more than 10,000 children from various regions in China. These children were between 6 and 35 months old. Researchers gave half of the children two doses of vaccine, while the other half of the study group got a placebo.
"During active surveillance, vaccine efficacy was 90% against EV71-associated hand, foot and mouth disease and 80·4% against EV71-associated disease," the researchers said, reported The Conversation.
The vaccine affects just one of the many strains that can cause the disease. And, researchers have said that their vaccine could not defeat the disease itself.
Other experts said that the vaccine targets a predominant strain of the disease in China, and can reduce hospital admissions due to the disease in the region.
"The major effect of this vaccine will be to reduce hospital admission, which is an important result of many vaccines," Dr Nigel Crawford and Dr Steve Graham, both from the University of Melbourne told BBC. "The next step is to assess the appropriateness of including an EV71 vaccine in China's national immunisation programme."
The study is published in the journal Lancet.