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Coxsackie virus infection? What is this? What is the cause of it? What other diseases can accompany it?
A few words about Coxsackie virus infection
Infection with this virus belongs to one of the more numerous virus families Picornaviridae, i.e. viruses of very small size that cause many diseases affecting a large number of organs – mainly the digestive system, nervous system, skin and mucous membranes.
How can you get infected with the Coxsackie virus?
Viruses Coxsackie are excreted by humans with the stool. Due to their resistance to various chemical factors, they are able to survive in the sewage from which they are insulated. They are transmitted by ingestion or droplets from an infected person or via water. The risk factor for infection is:
- staying in closed communities, e.g. barracks, retirement homes or boarding houses,
- use of public swimming pools.
Types of Coxsackie virus
There are many varieties of this virus, which are generally divided into two groups:
– Coxsackie A – affecting the formation of respiratory and heart diseases
– Coxsackie B – causing ailments of the nervous system.
What diseases are associated with Coxsackie virus infection?
The following diseases are caused by the Coxsackie virus:
- pharyngitis,
- cold diseases
- ulcerative inflammation of the mouth and throat
- angina herpetica (herpangina) with blisters on the roof of the mouth, fever, headache and sometimes diarrhea, vomiting
- Bornholm disease (myalgia epidemica),
- devil’s flu – with high temperature and muscle pains in the abdomen, chest, limbs, which may be entangled with viral meningitis,
- Boston’s disease (hands, feet and mouth) – is accompanied by red spots on the limbs and painful blisters on the hands, feet and throat, often with fever and sometimes diarrhea; is very contagious, but sometimes requires only symptomatic treatment (reducing the fever) – it resolves spontaneously,
- pleurisy,
- testicular inflammation
- summer diarrhea of infants,
- meningitis, less often with brain involvement, more often with spinal cord inflammation – usually has a fairly mild course, often two-phase, then the disease begins with a high temperature, pain in muscles, joints and abdomen, then it seems to be able to heal for a while, then again cause a stiff neck that cannot be bent, stiff knees that cannot be bent, headache,
- myocarditis,
- acute pancreatitis
- spontaneous miscarriages in infected pregnant women,
- perinatal infections, i.e. infections that can occur as a result of an intrauterine infection (in the mother’s womb), during or shortly after birth. A newborn child may seem to be completely healthy, and the effects of the infection will appear later in the form of serious diseases, such as: inflammation of the brain and heart muscle of newborns with a violent course, ending in death within a dozen or so hours; hepatitis with jaundice or inflammation of the meninges and the brain.
Scientific achievements – Coxsackie and diabetes
Virus infection Coxsackie it is also believed to be a possible contributor to type 1 diabetes. According to this theory, the virus would destroy the beta cells of the pancreatic islets that produce insulin and thus lead to the development of the disease.
Coxsackie virus infection diagnosis
Due to the symptoms similar to those caused by other pathogens, the clinical picture (disease symptoms) of Coxsackie virus infection alone is not always sufficient to make a correct diagnosis. Occasionally, a doctor may perform a virological test that can isolate and identify the type of virus. For this purpose, depending on the disease caused, cerebrospinal fluid, rectal or pharyngeal swabs may be taken. In severe diseases, intravenous antiviral drugs are used.
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