Pathogenic virus encyclopedia topics

By family

The clinically most notable virus species belong to the following families:

Comparison table of clinically important virus families and species
Family	Baltimore group	Important species	envelopment	Virion shape	Replication site
Adenoviridae	dsDNA	adenovirus	non-enveloped	icosahedral	nucleus
Picornaviridae	+ssRNA	coxsackievirus, hepatitis a virus, poliovirus	non-enveloped	icosahedral
Herpesviridae	dsDNA	epstein-barr virus, herpes simplex, type 1, herpes simplex, type 2, human cytomegalovirus, human herpesvirus, type 8, varicella-zoster virus	enveloped		nucleus
Hepadnaviridae	dsDNA and ssDNA	hepatitis B virus	enveloped	icosahedral	nucleus
Flaviviridae	+ssRNA	hepatitis C virus, yellow fever virus, dengue virus, west Nile virus, other Flaviviruses	enveloped	icosahedral
Retroviridae	+ssRNA	human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)	enveloped
Orthomyxoviridae	-ssRNA	influenza virus	enveloped	spherical	nucleus
Paramyxoviridae	-ssRNA	measles virus, mumps virus, parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus	enveloped	spherical
Papovaviridae	ssDNA	papillomavirus	non-enveloped	icosahedral
Rhabdoviridae	-ssRNA	rabies virus	enveloped	helical, bullet shaped
Togaviridae	+ssRNA	Rubella virus	enveloped	icosahedral

By type

Type	Family	Transmission	Diseases	Treatment	Prevention	laboratory diagnosis
adenovirus	adenoviridae	droplet contact (mainly) fecal-oral venereal direct contact (ocular infections)	acute febrile pharyngitis pharyngoconjunctival fever epidemic keratoconjunctivitis infantile gastroenteritis	None	None	virus neutralization hemagglutination assay ELISA
Coxsackievirus	Picornaviridae	fecal-oral, droplet contact	Coxsackie infections	None	None	Cell culture, antibody detection
Epstein-Barr virus	Herpesviridae	Saliva	infectious mononucleosis Burkitt lymphoma	None	None	Antibody detection immunoflourescence ELISA Nucleic acid detection
Hepatitis A virus	Picornaviridae	fecal-oral	acute hepatitis	Immunoglobulin (post-exposure prophylaxis)	Vaccine immunoglobulin (post-exposure prophylaxis) avoid food-contamination	antibody detection
Hepatitis B virus	Hepadnaviridae	All body fluids (blood, semen, saliva, mother's milk etc.)	acute hepatitis chronic hepatitis hepatic cirrhosis hepatocellular carcinoma	immunoglobulin Adefovir Entecavir Pegylated interferon alfa-2 Lamivudine	vaccine immunoglobulin (perinatal and post-exposure prophylaxis)	viral antigen detection antibody detection nucleic acid detection
Hepatitis C virus	Flaviviridae	blood (sexual)	acute hepatitis chronic hepatitis hepatic cirrhosis hepatocellular carcinoma	Pegylated interferon alfa-2 Ribavirin	None	antibody detection nucleic acid detection
Herpes simplex virus, type 1	Herpesviridae	direct contact with saliva and lesions	primary HSV-1 infection (gingivostomatitis in children, tonsillitis & pharyngitis in adults, keratoconjunctivitis) latent HSV-1 infection (herpes labialis, cold sores)	acyclovir famciclovir foscarnet penciclovir	None	immunofluorescence immunoperoxidase nucleic acid detection
Herpes simplex virus, type 2	Herpesviridae	sexually birth	primary HSV-2 infection latent HSV-2 infection aseptic meningitis	acyclovir famciclovir foscarnet penciclovir cidofovir	contact-avoidance with lesions safe sex	cell culture immunofluorescence immunoperoxidase nucleic acid detection
cytomegalovirus	Herpesviridae	tears urine semen saliva vaginal secretions mother's milk crosses placenta blood	infectious mononucleosis Cytomegalic inclusion disease	ganciclovir cidofovir foscarnet	None	antibody and nucleic acid detection
Human herpesvirus, type 8	Herpesviridae		Kaposi sarcoma multicentric Castleman disease primary effusion lymphoma	many in evaluation-stage	None	Nucleic acid and antibody detection
HIV	Retroviridae	sexual blood mother's milk	AIDS	HAART	zidovudine (perinatally) blood product screening safe sex	nucleic acid, p24 antibody detection
Influenza virus	Orthomyxoviridae	droplet contact	influenza (Reye syndrome)	amantadine rimantadine zanamivir oseltamivir	Influenza vaccine amantadine rimantadine	Hemagglutination assay antigen detection
measles virus	Paramyxoviridae	droplet contact	measles postinfectious encephalomyelitis	None	MMR vaccine	antibody detection
Mumps virus	Paramyxoviridae	droplet contact	Mumps	None	MMR vaccine	antibody detection
Human papillomavirus	Papovaviridae	direct contact	hyperplastic epithelial lesions (common, flat, plantar and anogenital warts, laryngeal papillomas, epidermodysplasia verruciformis) 55+ (hands/ feet) 30+ (anogenital/ some are oral/ throat/ respiratory) Malignancies for some species (cervical carcinoma, squamous cell carcinomas)	liquid nitrogen laser vaporization cytotoxic chemicals interferon cidofovir	HPV vaccine wart tissue avoidance safe sex	Visual inspection Antigen detection Nucleic acid detection
Parainfluenza virus	Paramyxoviridae	droplet contact	croup pneumonia bronchiolitis common cold	None	None	Antibody detection
Poliovirus	Picornaviridae	fecal-oral	Poliomyelitis	None	Polio vaccine	Antibody detection
Rabies virus	Rhabdoviridae	Animal bite droplet contact	Rabies	Post-exposure prophylaxis	Pre- and postexposure prophylaxis	Histology (postmortem)
Respiratory syncytial virus	Paramyxoviridae	droplet contact, hand-to-mouth	bronchiolitis pneumonia influenza-like syndrome severe bronchiolitis with pneumonia	(ribavirin)	hand-washing avoidance	antibody and antigen detection
Rubella virus	Togaviridae	droplet contact	German measles congenital rubella	None	MMR vaccine	Antibody detection
Varicella-zoster virus	Herpesviridae	droplet contact	Varicella herpes zoster	Varicella: acyclovir famciclovir valacyclovir Zoster: acyclovir famciclovir	Varicella vaccine immunoglobulin	Cell culture antigen and nucleic acid detection