Neonatal enterovirus infection

A neonate who had a nonfatal echovirus 11 infection with severe hepatitis, hepatic necrosis, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and thrombocytopenia was seen at the University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC) in Knoxville. Clinical data from this neonate were examined and compared with clinical data from histories of 8 other cases of neonatal enteroviral infections seen at UTMC, Knoxville, during a 3-year period. The purpose of our study was to increase awareness of the clinical presentations of neonatal enteroviral infections, especially in summer months. The patients in our study presented with various clinical manifestations of disease, including overwhelming systemic infection characterized by severe hepatic dysfunction and coagulopathy with possible disseminated intravascular coagulation and central nervous system infection. Myocarditis was sometimes manifested as well. In agreement with findings from other studies, our study concluded that most enteroviral infections in neonates resulted from perinatal transmission during delivery where the mothers had experienced recent, febrile, viral-like illness prior to or during delivery. One uncommon finding in our study was that the cases were strikingly seasonal, with 8 of the 9 infants hospitalized during late summer or early fall (July through September).