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Coxsackie virus infection and pregnancy failure
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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A high risk of vertical transmission of enteroviruses, primarily Coxsackie viruses, was established in the presence of spontaneous miscarriages, stillbirths and complications such as the threat of termination of pregnancy in the mother. This served as the basis for the hypothesis of an etiological connection between habitual miscarriage and chronic Coxsackie virus infection. For many autoimmune diseases, an etiological connection with Coxsackie virus infection has been proven (rheumatism, myocarditis, diabetes).
Enteroviruses - RNA containing, belong to the Picornaviridae family. The genus of enteroviruses is represented by the viruses Coxsackie A (24 types), Coxsackie B (6 types).
ECHO (type 34) is the last entero-72 pathogen of hepatitis A. A characteristic biological feature of Coxsackie viruses is their pathogenicity in relation to newborns. In experiments, Coxsackie viruses cause severe brain damage to parenchymatous organs; with age, the systemic nature of the pathology is lost in animals.
In humans, enteroviruses cause poliomyelitis, flu-like illnesses, fever with gastrointestinal syndrome, acute glomerulonephritis, pyelonephritis, but most often they are the causative agents of latent infection without any characteristic clinical picture. The first publication on intrauterine Coxsackie B-virus infection appeared in the 1950s.
Based on virological and serological studies, the possibility of transplacental transmission of these viruses has been proven.
Intrauterine infection of fetuses in acute forms of infection in mothers has been described by many authors. In children, damage to the central nervous system, heart, liver and pancreas was noted. In acute disease in the early stages of pregnancy, enteroviruses cause death of the embryo or fetus, spontaneous abortion, prematurity. The high risk of congenital enterovirus infection is determined not by acute enterovirus disease, but by the presence of a persistent form of enterovirus infection in a woman.
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