An Update on Enterovirus Research, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Virology and Viral Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 1366

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Enteroviruses belong to the family Picornaviridae and consist of 15 species, among which enteroviruses A through D cause infections in humans. Human enteroviruses are responsible for a broad array of diseases ranging from mild respiratory illness and hand, foot, and mouth disease to aseptic meningitis and acute flaccid paralysis. Most school-aged children have serologic evidence of prior infection. Human enteroviruses spread via the fecal–oral and respiratory routes and cause GI or respiratory illness. Viral invasion into the central nervous system, especially in neonates, can cause meningitis, encephalitis, seizures, brain imaging abnormalities, and long-term neurodevelopmental sequelae.

Despite the significant global burden of enterovirus infections, there are no approved antiviral agents available for the therapy of enterovirus infections. There are a variety of challenges in the implementation, utilization, and interpretation of novel diagnostic assays for the detection of enteroviral infections in a clinical setting. There are also multiple knowledge gaps in the field of enterovirus research, such as enterovirus life cycle, viral evolution, and virus–host interactions. Considering the clinical significance and global impact of enterovirus infections, efforts to push enterovirus research forward are urgently needed, and this field is attracting increasing attention worldwide. This Special Issue of Viruses aims to highlight the recent progress in research on enteroviruses.

Dr. Benjamin M. Liu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • antivirals
  • enteroviruses
  • picornavirus
  • diagnostics
  • emerging and re-emerging diseases
  • viral proteins
  • virus replication
  • viral targets
  • virus–host interactions
  • vaccine development

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

6 pages, 428 KiB  
Communication
Return of the Biennial Circulation of Enterovirus D68 in Colorado Children in 2024 Following the Large 2022 Outbreak
by Hai Nguyen-Tran, Molly Butler, Dennis Simmons, Samuel R. Dominguez and Kevin Messacar
Viruses 2025, 17(5), 673; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17050673 - 5 May 2025
Viewed by 447
Abstract
Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) caused large biennial cyclical outbreaks of respiratory disease and cases of acute flaccid myelitis from 2014 to 2018 in the USA. An anticipated outbreak did not occur in 2020, likely due to non-pharmaceutical interventions targeting the COVID-19 pandemic. A large [...] Read more.
Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) caused large biennial cyclical outbreaks of respiratory disease and cases of acute flaccid myelitis from 2014 to 2018 in the USA. An anticipated outbreak did not occur in 2020, likely due to non-pharmaceutical interventions targeting the COVID-19 pandemic. A large respiratory disease outbreak occurred again in 2022, but uncertainty remained regarding if circulation of EV-D68 would return to the pre-pandemic patterns. We conducted prospective active surveillance of clinical respiratory specimens from Colorado children for EV-D68 in 2023 and 2024. A subset of residual specimens positive for rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV) were tested for EV-D68 via a validated in-house EV-D68 reverse transcription–PCR assay. During epi weeks 18–44 in 2023, 525 residual specimens positive for RV/EV all tested negative for EV-D68. In 2024, during epi weeks 18–44, 10 (1.8%) of the 546 RV/EV-positive specimens were EV-D68-positive. The EV-D68-positive cases were predominantly young children (median age 4.8 years) receiving treatment with asthma medications. Following the 2022 EV-D68 outbreak, an anticipated outbreak did not occur in 2023. While EV-D68 was detected in 2024, the number of cases was not as significant as in prior outbreak years. Continued surveillance for EV-D68 will be important to understand the future dynamics of EV-D68 circulation and prepare for future outbreaks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue An Update on Enterovirus Research, 2nd Edition)
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16 pages, 3019 KiB  
Article
Whole-Genome Analysis of G2P[4] Rotavirus Strains in China in 2022 and Comparison of Their Antigenic Epitopes with Vaccine Strains
by Ruyi Che, Jiaxin Fan, Guangping Xiong, Lingshan Kong, Mengjie Dong, Yi Li, Peng Wang, Jianguang Fu, Zhenlu Sun, Song Liu, Caixia Li, Xuan Feng, Xiaoman Sun, Dandi Li and Zhaojun Duan
Viruses 2025, 17(3), 326; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17030326 - 26 Feb 2025
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Abstract
Group A rotavirus (RVA) is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide. To elucidate the molecular epidemiology of G2P[4] rotavirus in China and the protective effects of vaccines, whole-genome analysis of 13 G2P[4] RVA strains collected from China [...] Read more.
Group A rotavirus (RVA) is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide. To elucidate the molecular epidemiology of G2P[4] rotavirus in China and the protective effects of vaccines, whole-genome analysis of 13 G2P[4] RVA strains collected from China in 2022 was performed. Twelve strains possessed the typical DS-1-like genome constellation G2-P[4]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A2-N2-T2-E2-H2. Only GS2265 possessed the genome constellation G2-P[4]-12-R2-C2-M2-A2-N2-T2-E1-H2. With the exception of the NSP4 segment of GS2265, all other sequences of the 13 G2P[4] RVA strains clustered within the same lineage on phylogenetic analysis. However, QD2210 and SX2205 were grouped into different branches compared to the other strains. In the VP7 antigenic epitopes, four residues differed from the RotaTeq G2 strain; specifically, A87T and D96N in the 7-1a region and S213D and S242N in the 7-1b region. Comparison of the current G2P[4] RVA strains circulating in China with those circulating globally revealed a high degree of sequence identity. High genetic variability among the newly characterized G2P[4] RVA strains suggest the strains evolve fast. Finally, our data suggest that the multivalent RotaTeq vaccine could have provided better protection than the monovalent Rotarix and LLR. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue An Update on Enterovirus Research, 2nd Edition)
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