Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Dear Colleagues,

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) is a highly contagious illness posing a significant global health burden, primarily affecting young children. While often mild, infections can progress to severe neurological complications such as brainstem encephalitis and acute flaccid paralysis. The disease is predominantly caused by enteroviruses, including Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) and Coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16), though the emergence of other strains like CV-A6 and CV-A10 presents an ongoing challenge. The intricate pathogenesis of HFMD involves direct viral cytopathy and a dysregulated host immune response, but the precise mechanisms of neuroinvasion and severe disease progression are not fully understood.

In this Special Issue, we proudly showcase valuable research work providing the most current and fascinating information available on the pathogenesis of HFMD-causing enteroviruses and the development of novel antiviral strategies. This collection of manuscripts, encompassing studies on viral genomics, host–pathogen interactions, immunopathology, and the discovery of small-molecule inhibitors and immunotherapeutics, greatly advances our critical knowledge of HFMD and paves the way for improved clinical outcomes.

This Special Issue welcomes a variety of manuscript types, including original research papers, methods papers, reviews, mini-reviews, perspectives, hypotheses and theoretical works, case reports, letters to the editor, brief research reports, commentaries, opinions, editorials, and technology and codes. Authors must follow the authors’ guidelines in the preparation of their manuscripts.

We look forward to your valuable contributions that will promote further developments in this field.

Thank you for your collaboration.

Dr. Yaxin Wang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.