[Characteristics of the epidemic process in enterovirus infections in relation to the study of a serous meningitis outbreak]

Abstract

The etiological investigation of an epidemic outbreak of aseptic meningitis occuring in 1978 in Khabarovsk was performed. The leading etiological agent was found to be ECHO-4 virus. Some of the cases were associated with ECHO-20 and Coxsackie B1 viruses. Investigation of the herd immunity to these viruses in the urban population showed that before the outbreak the immune portion to ECHO-4 and ECHO-20 viruses was low, particularly in children and youngsters. This might be due to the fact that active circulation of these viruses and outbreaks of diseases associated with them had occurred 13--15 years before. The immune portion to enteroviruses in different towns of the Far East was shown to be uneven. The results of investigations of the epidemic outbreak and herd immunity permit to consider it to be a typical manifestation of the cyclic circulation of enteroviruses in the territory and in time.