Enterovirus 71 encephalitis

The enteroviruses include coxsackievirus group A and B, poliovirus, echovirus, and enteroviruses 68-71. Spread by the fecal-oral or oral-oral transmission, the non-polio enteroviruses, coxsackieviruses, and echoviruses produce several distinct syndromes, including pharyngitis, herpangina, handfoot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), neonatal sepsis, myocarditis, pericarditis, chronic infections among persons with compromised immune systems, and a variety of neurologic disorders (1,2). The spectrum of neurologic complications caused by enteroviruses includes aseptic meningitis, acute ataxia, opsoclonus-myoclonus, encephalitis, polio-like syndrome, and Guillain-Barré syndrome (2). Enteroviral meningoencephalitis generally has a good prognosis, except when the cause is enterovirus 71 (EV71), in which case there is a substantial mortality rate (1,2).