In the minds of many physicians, the diagnosis of "virus illness" is used to describe a multitude of nondescript febrile illnesses that defy more distinct delineation. In recent years, with advances in diagnostic techniques, it has become possible to better define various characteristic clinical pictures and the specific viruses causing them.
In the case of the Coxsackie viruses it is interesting to note that certain specific clinical entities, well described in the past, have recently been correlated with very specific virus types in an almost unvarying pattern. Thus, pleurodynia is found almost invariably with Coxsackie Type B virus, whereas herpangina has been found associated only with Coxsackie A. It is generally assumed that no relationship exists between the 2 diseases.
A case is presented here, in which a classical picture of herpangina was followed by an equally classical picture of pleurodynia. Viral studies revealed only an infection with Coxsackie Type