Oxford Epidemic of Bornholm Disease, 1951

Bacterial, Fungal, Parasitic, and Viral Myositis

“…Most common among this group is coxsackievirus B infections manifesting as pleurodynia (also known as Bornholm disease) (252). Infections are typically noted among children who present in the summer or fall with paroxysms of severe, sharp chest pains.…”

“…The most commonly reported causes of viral myositis in the United States are influenza A and B viruses (6,85,101,138,147,154). Several other viral pathogens, including enteroviruses (23,63,79,84,115,252), HIV (37,53), human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma virus (HTLV) type 1 (153,162), and hepatitis viruses (B and C) (61,148,163,175) may cause myositis and are discussed below.…”

“…Muscle biopsies are not warranted. Therapy is symptomatic; the disease usually resolves in several days, but recurrences of pleurodynia have been described in up to one-fourth of cases (252).…”

Epidemic of Meningoencephalitis and Bornholm Disease

“…The study has been purely on clinical grounds; the bacteriological aspect is still being investigated. The relationship between meningitis and Bornholm disease has been reported on previous occasions (Howard et al, 1943 ;Finn et al, 1949;Warin et al, 1953), but, except for an outbreak in Sweden, meningeal involvement has been noted in less than 10% of patients in large epidemics. A Swedish group of investigators (Gabinus et al, 1952) have described an outbreak of Bornholm disease with a high incidence of aseptic meningitis associated with Coxsackie virus group B type 3.…”

You’re the Flight Surgeon

“…Regional and nationwide outbreaks involving a large number of older children and young adults have been reported at infrequent intervals, oft en separated by decades. 8 Aseptic meningitis aff ects persons of all ages, but is most commonly observed in infants less than 1 yr of age. In the older child and adult, aseptic meningitis presents with fever to 40°C, headache, meningismus, nausea, and vomiting.…”