Bocavirus Infection (cont.)
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
In this Article
- What is bocavirus?
- What are the symptoms and signs of bocavirus infection?
- How is bocavirus infection spread?
- How is bocavirus infection diagnosed?
- What is the treatment for bocavirus infection?
- What is the prognosis of bocavirus infection?
- Can bocavirus infection be prevented?
- Bocavirus At A Glance
- Find a local Doctor in your town
What are the symptoms and signs of bocavirus infection?
Because bocavirus is usually only found in individuals (usually infants, children, and infrequently in young adults) with lower respiratory infections or diarrhea, these are the following symptoms and signs associated with the presence of bocavirus:
- ARTI (also termed RTIs, acute respiratory tract infections), especially in infants and children
- Cough
- Wheezing
- Fever
- Cyanosis (bluish or grayish tint to skin due to lack of oxygen)
- Rhinorrhea (runny nose)
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
The infants and children with these nonspecific symptoms often are very ill and require hospitalization. It is important to note that it is not clear yet that bocavirus is either completely or partially responsible for these signs and symptoms. Currently, most of the clinical articles that discuss bocavirus describe patients with at least several of the symptoms and signs listed above, with pneumonia as the major problem. One study found bocavirus rarely associated with patients with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary or respiratory disease) so the authors suggest it has no role in COPD. Some investigators report months of bocavirus shedding (having tests demonstrate the presence of the virus in body secretions) in patients with cancer (leukemia), but the significance of this shedding is not clear.
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