Acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis epidemic caused by coxsackievirus A24 variants in Korea during 2002-2003.
A variant of coxsackievirus A24 (CA24v) is one of the agents causing acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis. There was an epidemic of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis caused by CA24v in Korea from 2002 to 2003. Seventy-one strains of CA24v were isolated from 159 conjunctival specimens (45%). Most of the patients were school children under the age of 20. The epidemic began in the first week of August in 2002, and spread extensively, with a peak in the third week of September. CA24v strains were also isolated from conjunctival specimens in 2003. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed and sequencing of the 340 bp fragment of the VP1 region of the viruses. Sequencing data were multiple-aligned using CLUSTAL W (version 1.81). Phylogenetic trees were plotted using TreeView (version 1.6.6). Homologies ranged from 97.7%-100%, depending on geographical regions: from 99.4%-100% in 2002 and 98.4%-100% in 2003. A phylogenetic tree based on the nucleotide sequence homologies formed clusters depending on years rather than on geographical regions. Identities (98%-100%) were found among the Korean CA24v strains, and there was 85%-90% homology between these and the prototype strain.
Park
Kwisung
K
Division of Enteric and Hepatitis Viruses, Department of Virology, National Institute of Health, Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Kangbum
K
Lee
Jiwon
J
Yeo
Sanggu
S
Lee
Sunhwa
S
Cheon
Doo-Sung
DS
Choi
Wooyoung
W
Ahn
Jungbae
J
Kim
Sunghan
S
Jee
Youngmee
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003232:Conjunctivitis, Acute Hemorrhagic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D003384:Coxsackievirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D030015:Enterovirus C, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013997:Time Factors
D012367:RNA, Viral