Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis due to the novel hexon-chimeric-intermediate 22,37/H8 human adenovirus.
In a 2-month period in 2003, we encountered an outbreak of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) in Japan. We detected 67 human adenoviruses (HAdVs) by PCR from eye swabs of patients with EKC at five eye clinics in different parts of Japan. Forty-one of the 67 HAdV DNAs from the swabs were identified as HAdV-37 by phylogenetic analysis using a partial hexon gene sequence. When the restriction patterns of these viral genomes were compared with that of the HAdV-37 prototype strain, one isolate showed a never-before-seen restriction pattern. Within 1 year, we encountered three more EKC cases caused by a genetically identical virus: two nosocomial infections at two different university hospitals and a sporadic infection at an eye clinic. We determined the nucleotide sequences of the full-length hexon and fiber genes of these isolates and compared them to those of the 51 prototype strains. Surprisingly, the sequence of the hexon (epsilon determinant) loop-1 and -2 regions showed the highest nucleotide identity with HAdV-22, a rare EKC isolate. However, the nucleotide sequence of the fiber gene was identical to that of the HAdV-8 prototype strain. 22 We propose that this virus is a new hexon-chimeric intermediate HAdV-22,37/H8, and may be an etiological agent of EKC.
Aoki
Koki
K
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan.
Ishiko
Hiroaki
H
Konno
Tsunetada
T
Shimada
Yasushi
Y
Hayashi
Akio
A
Kaneko
Hisatoshi
H
Ohguchi
Takeshi
T
Tagawa
Yoshitsugu
Y
Ohno
Shigeaki
S
Yamazaki
Shudo
S
D000260:Adenoviruses, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005123:Eye / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D007637:Keratoconjunctivitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D036022:Capsid Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral; C018315:hexon capsid protein, Adenovirus