title: Adenovirus infections in young children.
abstract: The importance of adenovirus in initiating respiratory disease in young children is stressed in this report. The incidence, clinical illness, asymptomatic carriage, and serologic response of acute adenovirus-associated infection are described in a carefully followed cohort of normal children cultured with each episode of febrile respiratory illness. During a 6-year period, 8.2% of 1,416 nasal washings obtained from sick infants and children less than 7 years of age yielded adenovirus. Adenoviruses were isolated from only 1/174 (0.6%) cultures taken from well children. Typing of 98 isolates showed 81% to be types 1 or 2. A greater than or equal to fourfold rise in neutralizing titer was seen in 45/59 (76%) sampled. In a subset of the cohort observed for 2-week periods in a day care setting, 14 of 21 well children (67%) exposed to symptomatic children with adenovirus infection developed febrile respiratory symptoms and shedding of the same serotype within 2 weeks of exposure. This study confirms that adenovirus has a high attack rate and causes significant respiratory disease in young children.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paolini
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000257:Adenoviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000258:Adenovirus Infections, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000260:Adenoviruses, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012703:Serotyping; D013714:Tennessee