Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Images
Enteric cytopathic human orphan (ECHO) viruses are a group of viruses that lead to
Alternative Names
Nonpolio enterovirus infection; Echovirus infection
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Echovirus is one of several families of viruses that affect the gastrointestinal tract collectively called enteroviruses. These infections are common. In the US, they are most common in the summer and fall. You can catch the virus if you come into contact with stools contaminated by the virus, and possibly by breathing in air particles from an infected person.
Serious infections with ECHO viruses are less common, but can be significant. As many as 1 in 5 cases of viral meningitis is caused by an ECHO virus.
Review Date: 09/15/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of
General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
School of Medicine; Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in
Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division
of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts
General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical
Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
