Picornavirus

A picornavirus is a virus belonging to the family Picornaviridae. Picornaviridae is a family of viruses in the order Picornavirales. Vertebrates, including humans, serve as natural hosts. There are currently 50 species in this family, divided among 29 genera. Diseases associated with this family include: paralysis (non-polio and polio-type), summer cold, meningitis, diarrhea caused by Enteroviruses; foot-and-mouth disease (bovine) caused by Aphthoviruses; myocarditis caused by Cardioviruses; common cold caused by Rhinoviruses; and hepatitis caused by Hepatoviruses. The name is derived from pico, meaning "small," and RNA, referring to the ribonucleic acid genome. Thus, "pico-rna-virus" literally means "small RNA virus."

Diseases

Enteroviruses infect the enteric tract, which is reflected in their name. On the other hand, rhinoviruses infect primarily the nose and the throat. Enteroviruses replicate at 37 °C, whereas rhinoviruses grow better at 33 °C, as this is the lower temperature of the nose. Enteroviruses are stable under acid conditions and thus they are able to survive exposure to gastric acid. In contrast, rhinoviruses are acid-labile (inactivated or destroyed by low pH conditions) and that is the reason why rhinovirus infections are restricted to the nose and throat.