Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39801026›Full record

ArticleEpidemiology and infection2025

Trends in general practitioner consultations for hand foot and mouth disease in England between 2017 and 2022.

Natalia G Bednarska, Sue Smith, Megan Bardsley, Paul Loveridge, Rachel Byford, William H Elson, Helen E Hughes, Simon de Lusignan, Daniel Todkill, Alex J Elliot

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Epidemiology and infection, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Yonder: Screening for atrial fibrillation, antibiotics in care homes, hand, foot, and mouth disease, and asthma triple therapy.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Natalia G BednarskaReal-time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Services, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2623-2120
Sue SmithReal-time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Services, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1066-5175
Megan BardsleyReal-time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Services, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9690-6493
Paul LoveridgeReal-time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Services, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham, UK.
Rachel ByfordNuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, OxfordUK.ORCID 0000-0002-4792-8995
William H ElsonNuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, OxfordUK.ORCID 0000-0002-8630-1378
Helen E HughesReal-time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Services, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3664-2983
Simon de LusignanNuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, OxfordUK.ORCID 0000-0002-8553-2641
Daniel TodkillReal-time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Services, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4325-4786
Alex J ElliotReal-time Syndromic Surveillance Team, Field Services, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6414-3065

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a contagious communicable disease, with a high incidence in children aged under 10 years. It is a mainly self-limiting disease but can also cause serious neurological or cardiopulmonary complications in some cases, which can lead to death. Little is known about the burden of HMFD on primary care health care services in the UK. The aim of this work was to describe trends in general practitioner (GP) consultations for HFMD in England from January 2017 to December 2022 using a syndromic surveillance network of GPs. Daily GP consultations for HFMD in England were extracted from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2022. Mean weekly consultation rates per 100,000 population and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Consultation rates and rate ratios (RR) were calculated by age group and sex. During the study period, the mean weekly consultation rate for HFMD (per 100,000 registered GP patients) was 1.53 (range of 0.27 to 2.47). In England, children aged 1-4 years old accounted for the largest affected population followed by children <1 years old. We observed a seasonal pattern of HFMD incidence during the non-COVID years, with a seasonal peak of mean weekly rates between months of September and December. HFMD is typically diagnosed clinically rather than through laboratory sampling. Therefore, the ability to look at the daily HFMD consultation rates provides an excellent epidemiological overview on disease trends. The use of a novel GP-in-hours surveillance system allowed a unique epidemiological insight into the recent trends of general practitioner consultations for HFMD. We demonstrate a male predominance of cases, the impact of the non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a change in the week in which the peak number of cases happens post-pandemic.

Indexed as

General PractitionersHand, Foot and Mouth DiseaseReferral and ConsultationAdolescentAdultAgedChildChild, PreschoolEnglandFemaleHumansIncidenceInfantInfant, NewbornMaleMiddle Agedcoxsackievirusenterovirusgeneral practitionerhand, foot and mouth diseasesyndromic surveillance

Identifiers

PMID39801026
PMCPMC11795447

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.