title: Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis due to the novel hexon-chimeric-intermediate 22,37/H8 human adenovirus.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan.
authors.forename: Koki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishiko
authors.forename: Tsunetada
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Konno
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Hisatoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohguchi
authors.forename: Yoshitsugu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tagawa
authors.forename: Shigeaki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: Shudo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral; C018315:hexon capsid protein, Adenovirus