Coxsackievirus

noun

Cox·​sack·​ie·​vi·​rus (ˈ)käk-ˌsa-kē-ˈvī-rəs 

variants or Coxsackie virus

(ˌ)käk-ˈsa-kē- 

or coxsackievirus or coxsackie virus

plural Coxsackieviruses or Coxsackie viruses or coxsackieviruses or coxsackie viruses

: any of numerous serotypes of three enteroviruses (Enterovirus alphacoxsackie, E. betacoxsackie, and E. coxsackiepol) that are associated with mild to serious illness (such as sore throat, diarrhea, hand, foot and mouth disease, conjunctivitis, meningitis, and hepatitis)

Coxsackieviruses infect more than 20 million people annually in the United States and can cause illnesses ranging from a cold to an inflammation of the heart. However, most of the viruses are benign, so only about 10,000 infected people become ill.

—Tina Adler

Coxsackie viruses are transmitted from one person to the next through respiratory droplets or from foods, hands or utensils contaminated with the virus.

—Paul G. Donohue

Word History

Etymology

Coxsackie, New York

First Known Use

1949, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Coxsackievirus

• adenovirus
• baculovirus
• coronavirus
• enterovirus
• poliovirus
• antivirus
• herpesvirus
• parvovirus
• reovirus
• retrovirus
• rhinovirus
• rotavirus

Medical Definition

Coxsackievirus

noun

Cox·​sack·​ie·​vi·​rus (ˈ)käk-ˌsak-ē-ˈvī-rəs 

variants or Coxsackie virus or coxsackievirus or coxsackie virus

: any of numerous serotypes of three enteroviruses (Enterovirus alphacoxsackie, E. betacoxsackie, and E. coxsackiepol) that are associated with mild to serious illness (such as sore throat, diarrhea, hand, foot and mouth disease, conjunctivitis, meningitis, hepatitis, and epidemic pleurodynia)

Coxsackieviruses infect more than 20 million people annually in the United States and can cause illnesses ranging from a cold to an inflammation of the heart. However, most of the viruses are benign, so only about 10,000 infected people become ill.

—T. Adler, Science News

The isolation of coxsackievirus … from the damaged pancreatic cells of a 10-year-old boy who died of diabetic ketoacidosis adds to the growing evidence that implicates viruses in some forms of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM).

—Scientific American