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Candice Bigham is calling on the community to donate and support enterovirus research, in honour of her daughter Billie who lost her life to enterovirus myocarditis when she was just 11 days old.

When Billie was diagnosed, just a week after being born, Candice and her family were stunned.

“We had never heard of this type of infection before and didn’t understand it,” Candice recalls.

“We had no idea that complications could be fatal for a baby as young as Billie. Within three days of being diagnosed, she was gone.”

Enteroviruses are single-stranded RNA viruses that enter the body through the mouth and are absorbed through the gut (‘entero’ means intestine). There are many different types of enterovirus infections that cause a wide range of diseases in babies and children, including polio, viral meningitis and hand, foot and mouth disease. While most enterovirus infections are mild, some strains can cause serve illness and in, some cases, can be fatal.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Associate Professor Bruce Thorley, Head of the National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory at the Doherty Institute, explains that infants and children are particularly susceptible to enterovirus infections, as their immunity is still developing.

“Enterovirus infections can initially present with similar symptoms to other microorganisms – such as fever, a runny nose, cough, skin rash, mouth blisters or muscle aches – but progress to more severe illness if it infects critical sites, such as the heart or spinal cord,” outlines Associate Professor Thorley.

“It is therefore important that all possible causes of severe disease are investigated to ensure the best treatment is provided to children who are unwell.”

“After Billie died, we found out that she had a strain known as ‘Coxsackievirus B’, which impacts the heart and causes severe disease in newborn babies. The doctors believe that Billie contracted the virus while in utero,” Candice said.

“Her death was devastating and something we will never get over. It is something we don't want any other families to go through. We want to raise awareness and funds for enterovirus research, as we feel it is not well known or understood.”

Candice set up the All for Billie campaign to raise funds to advance enterovirus research and awareness of this somewhat unknown but important group of viruses.

“There are more than 100 types of enterovirus and a relatively short stretch of genetic sequence is usually sufficient to identify one enterovirus type from another,” said Associate Professor Thorley.

“We would like to delve deeper into the enterovirus genome to investigate whether there are key genetic differences within each type of enterovirus that may contribute to the severity of the infection.”

The fundraising target of $30,000 will enable the National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory to use whole-genome sequencing to characterise enteroviruses circulating in Australia.

Coordinated by The Royal Melbourne Hospital Foundation, donations can be made directly to the All for Billie campaign. All donations over AUD$2 are tax deductible.

For more information and to donate, please visit: https://candice-appeal.raisely.com