Kawasaki syndrome and concurrent Coxsackie virus B3 infection

Rheumatol Int. 2012 Dec;32(12):4037-40. doi: 10.1007/s00296-010-1613-0. Epub 2010 Oct 30.

Abstract

We describe two previously healthy children who were hospitalized in the same period in different departments of our University with clinical signs of Kawasaki syndrome, which were treated with intravenous immunoglobulins and acetylsalicylic acid: in both cases, Coxsackie virus infection was concurrently demonstrated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and complement fixation test identified antibodies to serotype B3. In the acute phase, both patients presented hyperechogenic coronary arteries, but no cardiologic sequels in the mid term. The etiological relationship between Kawasaki syndrome and Coxsackie viruses is only hypothetical; however, the eventual identification of ad hoc environmental triggers is advisable in front of children with Kawasaki syndrome, with the aim of optimizing epidemiological surveillance and understanding the intimate biological events of this condition.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Child, Preschool
  • Coxsackievirus Infections / complications*
  • Coxsackievirus Infections / immunology
  • Enterovirus B, Human / immunology
  • Enterovirus B, Human / isolation & purification*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / complications*
  • Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / immunology