An Outbreak of a Summer Febrile Disease Caused by Coxsackie B-2 Virus

Abstract

During the summer of 1958, a clinical and laboratory investigation of an outbreak of febrile illness among military dependents at a large Naval Training Center was undertaken. The disease was characterized by one or more of the following: fever, sore throat, cough, nasal congestion, and headache. A smaller number of individuals complained of vomiting, diarrhea, chest pain, and muscle aches. Infection occurred mostly in children, although family outbreaks involving adults were common. Of the 2000 families in the area 20% were selected for study by a random sampling technique. Throat and rectal swabs were inoculated into HeLa cell and monkey kidney tissue cultures. Serological studies were carried out on blood specimens from adults. Coxsackie B-2 virus was isolated from 10% of 361 subjects cultured. Most of these isolates were obtained from throat swabs. Of subjects culturally positive for Coxsackie B-2 virus 90% experienced illness at some time during the study period. Polio, ECHO, and adenoviruses were isolated from a small number of individuals. This study adds to the increasing collection of evidence showing Coxsackie viruses to be important causes of heretofore non-specific febrile illnesses.