A 2-year-old boy complained of severe abdominal pain. We learned that he had respiratory failure due to pneumonia and was going into shock. He was discharged from the hospital without incident, although he was placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. Genetic testing showed that the infection was caused by a single or simultaneous infection with either rhinovirus or enterovirus (both of which are the most common and common cold viruses).
Within the group of viruses called Enteroviruses, there are three well-known non-polio enteroviruses: enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), enterovirus A71 (EV-A71), and coxsackievirus A6 (CV- A6). These cause viremia, especially from gastrointestinal infections; EV-D68 causes additional respiratory illness; EV-A71 and CV-A6 cause hand-foot-and-mouth disease; rhinoviruses, with more than 160 different types, are also very similar to non-polio enteroviruses and are members of the same They are classified as members of the Enterovirus genus group. In particular, rhinoviruses classified as type C are very similar to enterovirus D68 and cause viremia. Rhinoviruses usually increase in the fall and spring, but are basically prevalent all year round.
Most cases of rhinovirus are only a nasal flu, but can cause worsening of wheezing and asthma, otitis media, sinusitis, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia.
This year, since spring, there has been an increase in asthma, otitis media, sinusitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia in both children and adults, which can be attributed to the rhinovirus outbreak. The virus usually invades the intestinal tract, causing gastroenteritis symptoms such as abdominal pain and vomiting, and can also be carried in the bloodstream to cause skin rashes (hand-foot-and-mouth disease, herpangina). Similarly, rhinovirus C, part of the rhinovirus family, not only causes pneumonia, but can also be spread throughout the body in the bloodstream, causing abdominal pain or gastroenteritis as a shock symptom.