Perinatal ECHOvirus Infection: Risk of Transmission during a Community Outbreak

Abstract

During a community outbreak of enterovirus infection, seven of 194 pregnant women (3.6 per cent) were found to be excreting a prime strain of echovirus 11 at term. Each of the seven women possessed serum neutralizing echovirus 11 antibody in titers ranging from 1:20 to 1:320, and the cord serum of their seven infants had antibody in titers of 1:10 to 1:640. None of these seven infants became ill, but four were shedding virus from the respiratory or gastrointestinal tract by three days of age. In a previous study, four infants who died of generalized infection due to the same strain of echovirus 11 had no detectable antibody in cord serum.