Enterovirus

Abstract

Human enteroviruses (HEVs) are single stranded, positive sense, RNA viruses in the family Picornaviridae. More than 90 serotypes of HEV are classified within four species, A-D, including the poliovirus, coxsackievirus, echovirus and enterovirus prototypes. HEVs cause a wide variety of diseases including mild febrile illness, acute flaccid paralysis and fatal encephalopathy. HEVs are considered a primary cause of aseptic meningitis and a study in the USA reported that HEVs were detected in 4.6% of patients suffering from encephalitis [1]. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.