Global landscape of coxsackieviruses in human health

Abstract

Coxsackieviruses-induced infections, particularly in infants and young children, are one of the most important public health issues in low- and middle-income countries, where the surveillance system varies substantially, and these manifestations have been disregarded. They are widespread throughout the world and are responsible for a broad spectrum of human diseases, from mildly symptomatic conditions to severe acute and chronic disorders. Coxsackieviruses (CV) have been found to have 27 identified genotypes, with overlaps in clinical phenotypes between genotypes. In this review, we present a concise overview of the most recent studies and findings of coxsackieviruses-associated disorders, along with epidemiological data that provides comprehensive details on the distribution, variability, and clinical manifestations of different CV types. We also highlight the significant roles that CV infections play in the emergence of neurodegenerative illnesses and their effects on neurocognition. The current role of CVs in oncolytic virotherapy is also mentioned. This review provides readers with a better understanding of coxsackieviruses-associated disorders and pointing the impact that CV infections can have on different organs with variable pathogenicity. A deeper knowledge of these infections could have implications in designing current surveillance and prevention strategies related to severe CVs-caused infections, as well as encourage studies to identify the emergence of more pathogenic types and the etiology of the most common and most severe disorders associated with coxsackievirus infection.

Keywords: Coxsackievirus; Coxsackieviruses in human health; Cv-associated infections; Enterovirus; Human diseases; Surveillance.

Fig. 1

CV types contribution to the total of studies typing CV (colored bars) and sequences available (orange line) in GenBank (NCBI). Black, red, and blue bars denote CV belonging to EV-A, B, and C species, respectively.

Fig. 2

Human organs affected by different CV types. The colors green (EVA species), blue (EVB species), and red (EV-C species) indicate the types that impact different organs. The figure was created using biorender.com.