Acute Fulminant Myocarditis Associated to Rhinovirus-Human Herpes Virus-7 (HHV-7) Co-infection in a Child

Abstract

Rhinovirus, a member of the Picornaviridae family, is usually the cause of common cold with the symptoms of rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, cough, sneezing, sore throat, and headache. In the current literature, it is remarked that rhinovirus can lead to fatal lower respiratory tract infections, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and myocarditis. Human herpes virus-7 (HHV-7), which was first described in 1990, is the cause of exantem subitum, coryza, acute infantile hemiplegia, and hepatitis. In a recent article, it has been reported that HHV-7 can be an agent of myocarditis. In this report, we present a child diagnosed with fulminant myocarditis due to co-infection of rhinovirus and HHV-7, in whom extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was utilized. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fulminant myocarditis case caused by a co-infection rhinovirus and HHV-7.