Abstract: AIM: To observe the serum interleukin-8(IL-8) level variation and the curative effects of combined ribavirin with Tangreqing injection in treatment of hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD) of younger children. METHODS: Eighty-four younger children with HFMD were randomly assigned to groups of control (n=42) and treatment (n=42). The control group were managed with conventional ribavirin injection and the treatment group were administered with combined ribavirin with Tangreqing injection besides conventional symptomatic treatment for the two groups. Venous blood was taken, five days after the treatment, from the two groups for determination of the serum IL-8 level. RESULTS: Lower serum level of IL-8 and better therapeutic effects were seen in the treatment group as compared with the controls, and the difference was significant(P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Combined ribavirin with Tangreqing injection for child HFMD has better therapeutic effects than single dosage of ribavirin injection, may be related with reducing the serum IL-8 level.

Key words: Hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD), Tangreqing injection, Ribavirin, Interleukin-8