• Medical Author:
    Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD


    William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

    William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR


Coxsackievirus facts

  • Coxsackieviruses are RNA viruses that may cause hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), as well as disease of muscles, lungs, and heart.
  • HFMD usually occurs in children but can occur in adults.
  • HFMD usually resolves in about 10 days with no scarring, but the person may shed coxsackievirus for several weeks.
  • There is no specific treatment or vaccine available for coxsackievirus infections.

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What is a coxsackievirus?


What are the types of coxsackieviruses, and what can they cause?

Coxsackieviruses are separable into two groups, A (CVA) and B (CVB), which are based on their effects on newborn mice (coxsackievirus A results in muscle injury, paralysis, and death; coxsackievirus B results in organ damage but less severe outcomes.) There are over 24 different serotypes of the virus (having distinct proteins on the viral surface). Coxsackieviruses infect host cells and cause host cells to break open (lyse).

Picture of the Coxsackie virus
Picture of the coxsackievirus; SOURCE: CDC

Type A viruses cause herpangina (painful blisters in the mouth, throat, hands, feet, or in all these areas). Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is the common name of this viral infection. Coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) causes the majority of HFMD infections in the U.S. It usually occurs in children (age 10 and under), but adults can also develop the condition. This childhood disease should not be confused with the "foot and mouth disease" usually found in animals with hooves (for example, cattle, pigs, and deer). Type A viruses also cause inflammation of the eyelids and white area of the eye (conjunctivitis). Coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6) has caused herpangina (mouth blisters) in infants.

Type B viruses cause epidemic pleurodynia (fever, lung, and abdominal pain with headache that lasts about two to 12 days and resolves). Epidemic pleurodynia is also termed Bornholm disease. There are six serotypes of coxsackievirus B (1-6, with B 4 considered by some researchers as a possible cause of diabetes in a number of individuals).

Both types of viruses (A and B) can cause meningitis, myocarditis, and pericarditis, but these occur infrequently from coxsackievirus infections.

Enterovirus 71, like coxsackievirus, also causes HFMD. In Asia in July 2012, particularly Cambodia, children infected with enterovirus 71 (EV-71) had a high mortality rate due to encephalitis and acute polio-like paralysis. This epidemic (mainly in babies, toddlers, and children under 2 years of age).

Is the coxsackievirus contagious?

Yes, coxsackieviruses are contagious person to person. These viruses are transmitted mainly by the fecal-oral route and by respiratory aerosols. Droplets containing viruses that land on objects like toys or utensils may occasionally transmit the viruses indirectly to uninfected individuals.

How long are coxsackieviruses contagious?

Coxsackieviruses are most contagious during the first week of symptoms. However, viable virus microbes have been found in respiratory tracts for up to three weeks and then in feces up to eight weeks after initial infection, but during this time, the viruses are less contagious.

What is the incubation period for coxsackievirus infections?

The incubation period for coxsackievirus infections is relatively short; it lasts about one to two days with a range of about one to five days.

What are coxsackievirus infection symptoms and signs?

The most frequent signs and symptoms of coxsackievirus infections are initially fever, a poor appetite, and respiratory illness, including sore throat, cough, and malaise (feeling tired). This incubation period lasts about one to two days. Sore areas in the mouth develop in about a day or two after the initial fever and develop into small blisters that often ulcerate. Many infected people (usually children 10 years of age and younger) go on to develop a rash that itches on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. Other areas such as the buttocks and genitals may be involved. Some patients develop conjunctivitis. These symptoms usually last about seven to 10 days, and the person usually recovers completely. The individuals are most contagious for about a week after symptoms begin, but because the virus can be shed by the infected individual sometimes for weeks after the symptoms have gone away, the person may be mildly contagious for several weeks.

Picture of characteristic mouth sores of hand foot and mouth disease
Picture of characteristic mouth sores of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD)
Picture of characteristic rash and blisters of hand foot and mouth disease
Picture of characteristic rash and blisters of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD)

Infrequently, the infection may result in temporary fingernail or toenail loss (termed onychomadesis) and chest or abdominal muscle pain. Rarely, the disease may progress to cause viral meningitis (headache, stiff neck), myocarditis (heart muscle infection), pericarditis (inflammation/fluid collection of the tissue surrounding the heart), or encephalitis (brain inflammation).

Infection with EV-71 results in a higher incidence of neurologic involvement with symptoms such as a polio-like syndrome, meningitis, encephalitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and/or ataxia.

How do people get infected with coxsackievirus?

Infection usually is spread by fecal-oral contamination, although occasionally the virus is spread by droplets expelled by infected individuals. Items like utensils, diaper-changing tables, and toys that come in contact with body fluids that contain the virus may also transmit them to other individuals. Although people of any age, including adults, can get infected, the majority of patients with coxsackievirus infection are young children. Pregnant women can pass coxsackievirus to their newborns, which may cause serious problems for the newborn. So during pregnancy, women need to notify their obstetrician if they exhibit symptoms of the infection, especially if they are near their delivery date.

What are the risk factors for coxsackievirus infection?

Risk factors for coxsackievirus infection include physical contact with any patient with individuals with HFMD symptoms. Other risk factors include rural living conditions, association with children in child-care centers, and a large number of children in the family. Infectious virus can be found in feces, saliva, fluid in blisters, and nasal secretions. Even patients who have recovered and have no symptoms may still shed infectious virus for weeks. A fetus or newborn is at risk if their mother becomes infected near the delivery date. Pregnant women should avoid contact with HFMD patients. They should contact their OB/GYN physician if they develop any symptoms of HFMD.

What specialists treat coxsackievirus infections?

In most instances, if treatment is needed, it is done by the patient's pediatrician and/or primary-care physician. However, in severe cases, specialists in pediatric critical care and infectious diseases may be consulted. If severe complications develop (for example, carditis or pleurodynia), others like lung or cardiac specialists may be consulted.

How do physicians diagnose coxsackievirus infections?

Patients are usually diagnosed by their clinical appearance. Clinically, blisters that are painful usually on the hands, feet, and mouth in a child with fever are considered diagnostic of coxsackievirus infection. However, in rare instances, viral tests can be done to identify the virus, but the tests are expensive, usually need to be sent to a specialized viral diagnostic laboratory that uses RT-PCR, and often take about two weeks to get a result. This testing is almost never done since most infections are self-limited and typically mild, but this situation may change because of an outbreak in Alabama (38 children, 12% hospitalized but no deaths in 2011-2012) and the recent enterovirus 71 epidemic (about 905 of hospitalized children have died) in Cambodia. RT-PCR testing can distinguish between many viral genera, species, and subtypes. Distinguishing coxsackievirus strains from adenoviruses, other enterovirus types, echo virus, viruses causing mononucleosis, and other viral diseases may become necessary in the future.

Is there any treatment for coxsackievirus infection?



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Is it possible to prevent coxsackievirus infections?


Pregnant women should avoid contact with children (or adults) with HFMD because some studies suggest that coxsackievirus may cause developmental and other defects in the fetus.

Although infection and resolution of the disease usually renders the person immune to reinfection with the viral type that initiated the disease, the person is not immune to other coxsackievirus types. For example, a person may become immune to coxsackievirus type B4 but still would be susceptible to all of the other coxsackievirus types (for example, CVA16). In addition, other viruses such as enterovirus 71 and enteric cytopathic human orphan (ECHO) viruses can produce HFMD symptoms. Consequently, it is possible for some people to have multiple infections with HFMD symptoms even though repeated infections occur infrequently.


What is the prognosis of coxsackievirus infections?

Until recently, the general prognosis for most patients with coxsackievirus infections was excellent, with most children making a complete recovery without needing any supportive care (hospitalization). However, this prognosis may be changing as evidenced by the outbreak in Alabama in 2011-2012 that required 12% of children to be hospitalized for supportive care. Only rarely do patients suffer poor outcomes with complications of meningitis, pericarditis, or encephalitis. Unfortunately, infants and young children infected with EV-71 have a prognosis that may vary from good to poor.

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Medically Reviewed on 10/23/2017


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Muller, M. "Coxsackieviruses." Aug. 15, 2016. <>.

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