ECHO 9 infection in pregnant women with suspected rubella.

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Both rubella virus and Echovirus 9 (ECHO 9) were epidemic in Scotland during the summer of 1973; both viruses can cause a mild febrile illness with rash. Sera from 386 rubella-negative pregnant women were tested for neutralizing antibodies to ECHO 9 virus; 40 women had antibody titres suggestive of recent infection. Prospective studies on the outcome of these pregnancies are in progress but preliminary results suggest no connexion between fetal damage and ECHO 9 infection.One of the challenging problems of general and obstetric practice is the management of suspected rubella in pregnancy. The development of diagnostic virological tests for rubella has helped greatly. However, these tests do not always provide clear-cut answers and in practice a proportion of cases still require the exercise of judgment and the assessment of probabilities. It is therefore important, and occasionally helpful, to know of the existence of other rubella-like conditions which do not necessarily carry the same risk to the exposed and infected pregnant woman and fetus. One of the commonest of these, occurring as epidemics at intervals of about four years, is caused by Echovirus 9 (ECHO 9). This enterovirus can cause mild febrile illness with rubella-like skin rashes, particularly in young children. Unlike rubella virus, no correlation between fetal damage and ECHO 9 infection in early pregnancy has been found (Rantasalo, Penttinen, Saxen, and Ojala, 1960;Kleinman, Prince, Mathey, Rosenfield, Bearman, and Syverton, 1962;Landsman, Grist, and Ross, 1964).In the summer of 1973 an epidemic of ECHO 9 infection overlapped with an outbreak of rubella and provided, for the first time, an opportunity to apply tests for both infections *n order to assess the extent to which Echovirus 9 might be involved in instances of exposure of pregnant women which could not be attributed to rubella.

Enteroviral Infections in Infants

“…Generalized maculopapular eruptions are seen with EV infections. 44 , 45 The “Boston exanthem” is a febrile 24–36-hour prodrome followed by the appearance of small, non-pruritic, pink maculopapular eruptions on the face and upper chest. 46 Petechial and purpuric rashes have been associated with echoviruses 9 and 25 and CV-A9 infections.…”