The genus of Enterovirus belongs to the family of Picornavirus. Enteron means small intestine and is the main replication site for most enteroviruses while PicoRNAvirus are RNA viruses. Therefore, enteroviruses are RNA viruses and Picornaviruses are large group of viruses causing a wide spectrum of diseases ranging from paralytic poliomyelitis to mild, non-specific febrile illness and rarely associated with disease of the gastrointestinal tract. These viruses are distributed worldwide but more than 90% of its infections are subclinical.
Structure of Enteroviruses
- Enteroviruses are Single stranded RNA with positive sense.
- They have a diameter of 24–30 nm
- They are Icosahedral in structure with 60s ribosome (mRNA function) each containing one set of the structural proteins VP1-4
Clinical syndromes of enterovirus
| Type of Enterovirus | Clinical Syndromes |
| Polioviruses | Paralytic disease |
| Coxsackie A viruses | Herpangina |
| Coxsackie A virus (A16) | Hand, foot and mouth disease |
| Coxsackie B viruses | Epidemic myalgia/pleurodynia |
| Coxsackie B viruses | Generalized disease in the newborn |
| Coxsackie B viruses | Myocarditis/pericarditis |
| Enterovirus 70 | Conjunctivitis |
| Echoviruses (especially) | Fever and rash |
| Enteroviruses (Many) | Meningitis |
The Enterovirus genus comprises several subgroups of which the following may cause disease in humans:
- Polioviruses (types 1–3). Polios = gray, myelos = marrow.
- Coxsackieviruses, Group A (types 1–22, 24) and Group B (types 1–6). Coxsackie viruses where first isolated from patient in “Coxsackie” which is a village in USA.
- Echoviruses (types 1–9, 11–27). Enteric cytopathogenic human orphan viruses, originally considered not to be associated (‘orphan’) with human disease.
- Newer enteroviruses (types 29–34, 68–72). Such as Human enterovirus 72 which is hepatitis A virus,
Source : A Practical Guide to Clinical Virology. Edited by L. R. Haaheim, J. R. Pattison and R. J. Whitley
