Coxsackie B virus infection

A case of a 27-year patient with a clinical syndrome of Coxsackie B viral infection is presented. The symptoms included pleurodynia, myocarditis and the acute gastritis. The diagnosis was confirmed with serological tests which showed high titre of antibodies neutralizing Coxsackie B3. The symptoms of myocardial infarction dominated in both clinical course and autopsy. The authors suggest that serological tests specific for Coxsackie B infection should be performed in the young patients with the symptoms of myocardial infarction.     

Coxsackie B4 virus crystal formation in mouse pancreas.

For the first time, Coxsackie B4 virus crystals are demonstrated in tissues of animals inoculated with the virus. Until this report, Coxsackie B4 virus had never been found to form crystalline aggregates in tissues of any kind. The viral crystals which were located in the pancreas of newborn mice were associated with ultrastructural damage to the pancreas not observed in control animals, thereby indicating that viruses directly invade and damage these tissues. Thus, this virus must be considered among etiologic factors in pancreatic disease.     

Coxsackie A 13 virus in the foci of rheumatism.

Faeces and nasopharyngeal washing were examined in 12 patients and 27 contacts of these patients in family foci (primary foci) of rheumatism and in 37 patients and 32 contacts of these patients in secondary foci of rheumatism (in hospitals). Results of stimultaneous examinations of 127 children of the control groups served as the control. An analysis of the results of the investigation showed the Coxsackie A 13 virus was found considerably more frequently in both the patients (83.3%) and their contacts (148.1%) in the primary foci of rheumatism than outside these foci (11.9--15.3%). The difference is statistically significant. Wide distribution of Coxsackie A 13 virus was also observed in clinical departments in which children were hospitalized at the acute stage of rheumatism. We failed to establish marked differences in the rate of detection of other viruses in the foci of rheumatism in comparison with the control groups.