Objective: To elucidate the dominant enteroviruses associated with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and the distributions of VP1 genotypes in Jinan City. Methods: Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect enterovirus A71 (EV-A71), coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16), coxsackievirus A6 (CV-A6) and coxsackievirus A10 (CV-A10) in 4929 HFMD specimens from 2012 to 2017 in Jinan. According to different years, 65 virus isolates of HFMD were retrospectively collected, including 17 strains of EV-A71, 16 of CV-A16, 20 of CV-A6 and 12 of CV-A10. The VP1 gene of enteroviruses was amplified by RT-PCR and the nucleotide sequencing was performed. Nucleotide homology analyses were performed and phylogenetic trees were constructed on the VP1 gene. Results: The dominant enteroviruses of HFMD were CV-A16 (28.3%), EV-A71(27.3%), CV-A6(17.0%) and CV-A10(3.0%) in Jinan. The lengths of VP1 gene on CV-A16, EV-A71, CV-A6 and CV-A10 amplified by RT-PCR were 891 bp, 1 015 bp, 1 110 bp and 993 bp, respectively. The nucleotide homology was 93.0%-98.1% for EV-A71 strains, 87.4%-100.0% for CV-A16 strains, 87.6%-99.7% for CV-A6 strains, and 95.8%-99.4% for CV-A10 strains. The phylogenetic trees showed that EV-A71 strains belonged to C4a genotype in Jinan, CV-A16 strains had two genetic subtypes (B1b and B1a); CV-A6 strains located in clusters C, E and F, and CV-A10 strains located in cluster E. Conclusion: The dominant enteroviruses of HFMD are CV-A16, EV-A71, CV-A6 and CV-A10 from 2012 to 2017 in Jinan. The long-term dynamic monitoring of the distribution of VP1 genotypes is of great public health significance for improving the early warning sensitivity for HFMD.
