A community-derived outbreak of adenovirus type 3 in children in Taiwan between 2004 and 2005.
An outbreak of respiratory adenovirus infection in children was observed in northern Taiwan between November 2004 and February 2005. Using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to determine the serotype(s) of 172 adenovirus isolates in the outbreak period, we found that adenovirus type 3 (Ad3) was the predominant type (87.2%), followed by Ad2 (6.4%), Ad1 (4.1%), Ad7 (1.2%), Ad4 (0.6%), and Ad5 (0.6%). The genotype of Ad3 was analyzed for 15 isolates from the outbreak period by RFLP of the full-length genome. All these isolates belonged to genotype Ad3a2. Compared with the Ad3-infected patients in the baseline period, a significantly higher proportion of Ad3-infected patients in the outbreak period had severe infections (58.0% vs. 40.2%, P = 0.01), which included bronchopneumonia (28.7%), exudative tonsillitis (24.1%), and tonsillitis (16.1%). Moreover, patients with severe infections were significantly younger than those without (4.10 vs. 8.15 years, P < 0.001). In summary, our study demonstrated that Ad3 was the predominant serotype responsible for the respiratory adenovirus outbreak in northern Taiwan during 2004-2005 and was associated with severe infections in the outbreak period.
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Sui-Yuan
SY
Chang
Chun-Nan
CN
Lee
Pi-Han
PH
Lin
Hsueh-Hung
HH
Huang
Luan-Yin
LY
Chang
Wilson
W
Ko
Shu-Fang
SF
Chang
Ping-Ing
PI
Lee
Li-Min
LM
Huang
Chuan-Liang
CL
Kao
D000258:Adenovirus Infections, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D000260:Adenoviruses, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D002648:Child; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010614:Pharynx / Q000821:virology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012703:Serotyping; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral