A 5 yr old boy presents with headache, fever and vomiting. On examination, multiple small vesicles are present on the posterior pharyngeal wall. He is diagnosed with herpangina and is staed on suppoive therapy. Whats is herpangina caused by?

Herpangina is caused by Coxsackie A virus, a large subgroup of the enteroviruses. Herpangina or vesicular pharyngitis is a common clinical manifestation of coxsackie A infection in children, but it can also be caused by Coxsackievirus B virus, echoviruses or enterovirus 71. The lesions are small vesicles on the fauces and the posterior pharyngeal wall that break down to form ulcers. Treatment is usually suppoive only, as the disease is self-limiting and usually runs its course in less than a week. The image shows palatal ulcers in herpangina Reference: Ananthanarayan and Paniker&;s Textbook of Microbiology Tenth edition