Enterovirus infections in children.

Enteroviruses (EVs), which include numerous types, are among the most common pathogens causing infections in children. EVs can cause diverse diseases, including herpangina, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, myocarditis, pneumonia, meningitis, encephalitis, and acute flaccid paralysis. Severe cases may result in pediatric mortality, posing substantial threats to child health and public health. The diversity of EV types combined with rapid viral evolution and antigenic variation presents formidable challenges for EV prevention and control, with dominant genotypes being continuously replaced by emerging variants and novel subtypes. EV invades host cells through specific receptors and hijacks cellular machinery for self-replication, engaging in complex interactions with the host while evolving multiple mechanisms to evade host immune responses. Currently, no specific anti-EV agents are available, and treatment remains primarily supportive and symptomatic. Effective prevention and control strategies for EV are limited, and vaccines are currently available only against selected EV serotypes. This review systematically examines EV infections from multiple perspectives, including epidemiology, virology, viral entry mechanisms, virus-host interactions, clinical diagnosis and management, prevention and control measures, with the aim of providing insights and references for research on EV pathogenesis, precision clinical diagnosis and treatment, and the development of antiviral therapies and vaccines.