The patient typically presents with symptoms of a mild upper respiratory tract infection. Serious infections affecting the nervous system are rare.
Fever and sore throat combined with vesicular lesions in the mouth and on the hands and feet are strongly suggestive of hand, foot and mouth disease (enteroviral vesicular stomatitis with exanthem).
Causative agents
Enteroviruses include e.g. polioviruses, coxsackieviruses and echoviruses. Enterovirus infection is transmitted by airborne droplets, faeces and from mother to child during childbirth.
The incubation period is usually 3-6 days from contact but may be shorter.
Clinical picture
One enterovirus type may give rise to a variety of symptoms. The typical clinical presentation of enterovirus infections (excluding polio) may include the following:
Should serious enterovirus infection be suspected, the disease may be diagnosed primarily with a nucleic acid assay and in special situations with viral culture from, for example, spinal cord sample when the nucleic acid assay is negative.
de Crom SC, Rossen JW, van Furth AM ym. Enterovirus and parechovirus infection in children: a brief overview. Eur J Pediatr 2016;175(8):1023-9. [PubMed]