Coxsackie B-5 Pericarditis in Pregnancy

Abstract

The clinical spectrum of Coxsackie B infections includes pleurodynia, myocarditis of the newborn, aseptic meningitis, and, recently, acute benign pericarditis. The importance of Coxsackie virus in the production of pericarditis is reflected in a number of case reports. 1-12 With certain types of Group B the number of such cases is limited. Information is not available on its incidence in a given outbreak or in reference to a clinical setting that might show susceptibility on the part of patients. This report presents 3 cases of pericarditis in pregnant women, which occurred during an outbreak of Coxsackie Group B, Type 5 infections in the Albany area during the summer and autumn of 1961. The 16 hospitalized cases clinically diagnosed as viral infections are summarized in Table 1. Table 2 summarizes 104 cases occurring in otherareas of upstate New York, exclusive of New York City, during the same period, from which