Life-threatening echovirus 11 infection during first month of life
Rubinstein, U.; Weisbrod, M.; Garty, B.
Harefuah 139(7-8): 269-71 327
2000
ISSN/ISBN: 0017-7768 PMID: 11062968 Document Number: 525616
Infection with Echovirus 11 is mostly asymptomatic, but it may cause a wide variety of clinical diseases, from gastroenteritis to serious diseases such as meningitis and myocarditis. In small infants, especially during the first days of life, echovirus infection may appear as a sepsis-like illness, and cause disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and shock. We present 2 infants with severe Echovirus 11 infections. A 3.5-month-old died within 24 hours of shock and probably myocarditis. The other, 6-days old, presented with meningitis, hepatitis and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. It recovered after treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin. Echovirus 11 may cause life-threatening infections in small infants. Pediatricians should be alert to the special characteristics of this disease.