[Coxsackie B enterovirus infection in Astrakhan Province]

Overall 132 patients with Coxsackie B enteroviral infection were admitted to an Astrakhan infectious hospital in 1989. Of these, 100 patients had aseptic meningitis and 32 presented with respiratory infection syndrome. The severity of enteroviral meningitis may vary from mild forms running its course without marked meningeal syndrome to grave ones associated with high pleocytosis, manifest syndrome of CSF hypertension and potential exacerbation of the infectious process. The patients with the syndrome of respiratory infection demonstrated its combination with intestinal disorders (39%). The ECG changes attested to marked toxic alterations in the myocardium. The peripheral blood showed leukopenia with relative lymphocytosis. The treatment and future course of the disease are dependent on a correct etiological diagnosis which is feasible with joint efforts of clinicians, epidemiologists and virologists.