What is it about ?
Enterovirus infections are different types of infections caused by enteroviruses. Enteroviruses are a collection of different types of viruses such as polioviruses, coxsackie viruses, and echoviruses.
Infection occurs through contact with saliva and stool or between mother and child during childbirth. The period between contamination and the appearance of the first symptoms (incubation period) is 3 to 6 days.
If you are infected, you usually have symptoms of a moderate upper respiratory infection. Fever and sore throat can also occur, possibly with lesions to the mouth, hands and feet (hand-to-mouth syndrome).
Where and how often do they occur?
If you rule out poliovirus infections, enterovirus infections are common. Thanks to compulsory vaccination against polio worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Europe polio-free in 2002. However, vaccination against polio remains essential in Belgium, because in some countries not Europeans the disease has not yet completely disappeared. Polioviruses can therefore be imported from abroad.
How to recognize them?
Enteroviruses can be expressed in different ways:
- Upper respiratory tract infection, sore throat or inflammation of the mouth (stomatitis);
- Pneumonia (and inflammation of the membranes around the lungs (pleura) (pleurisy));
- Hand-foot-mouth syndrome with fever, sore throat, spots, blisters (vesicles) in the mouth, on the hands and feet;
- Inflammation of the muscle of the heart (myocardium) (myocarditis) and / or the envelopes of the heart (pericardium) (pericarditis);
- Diarrhea and, rarely, inflammation of the liver (hepatitis);
- Serious clinical picture: severe generalized infection in newborns, inflammation of the meninges (meningitis) or, more rarely, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) and / or paralysis that resembles polio.
How is the diagnosis made?
The doctor will think about the diagnosis of an enterovirus infection based on the symptoms and the physical examination.
Hand-foot-mouth syndrome often gives a characteristic picture that immediately makes one think of a particular type of enterovirus, namely the coxsackie virus.
It is only in the event of serious infections (meningitis, severe diarrhea, severe stomatitis with dehydration or epidemic of enterovirus infections in a community) that laboratory tests will be necessary: lumbar puncture, fluid from vesicles in the mouth or throat, stool sample and blood test.
What can you do ?
When you cough or sneeze, keep a tissue over your mouth and wash your hands well. In the presence of mild symptoms (fever, diarrhea, headache), paracetamol is generally sufficient. Try to drink enough. Do not hesitate to contact a doctor in case of more serious complaints (high fever, dehydration, inability to eat and numbness).
What can your doctor do?
There is no specific treatment. If you have an enterovirus infection with moderate complaints, your doctor will prescribe treatment to relieve the symptoms. If the symptoms are very severe, hospitalization may be required.
Want to know more?
- Hand hygiene – SPF Public health, food chain safety and the environment
- Cough or sneeze without contaminating – Québec.ca – Official site of the Government of Quebec
- Lumbar puncture explained to children – Plaster
- The spinal and lumbar punctures, here, Where to find on this page of Cliniques St Luc UCL
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