INFECTION OF LABORATORY WORKERS WITH COXSACKIE VIRUSES

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Abstract
Six laboratory workers developed febrile illnesses while studying viruses, pathogenic for infant mice, which have been designated Coxsackie viruses. The clinical manifestations in these cases varied considerably. Thoracic or abdominal pain were prominent symptoms in 4; 2 had minor illnesses without distinctive features. Pleocytosis of the cerebrospinal fluid was present in the 1 patient who had a lumbar puncture. A strain of Coxsackie virus was isolated from the feces or from swabbings of the pharynx during the acute stage of illness in each case and from both sources in 4 instances. Three different types of Coxsackie virus were represented. The capacity to neutralize the homologous or a related strain of virus was not present in the serum of these patients prior to illness but developed in high titer during convalescence. In each case the virus appeared to have caused the associated illness, and the evidence indicated that infection was probably contracted in the laboratory.