Etiologic research in an outbreak of human adenovirus type 4 acute respiratory infection in pediatric patients with in Shenzhen

Abstract

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and identify the etiology of an acute respiratory tract infection in a kindergarten in Shenzhen. Methods Nasal and throat swab samples were collected from 17 children from a kindergarten in Shenzhen and real-time PCR was used to detect influenza virus. Negative samples were tested for respiratory adenovirus (ADV) further. Five ADV positive samples were comfirmed by PCR, and 4 stablized virus samples was isolated by the way of infection Hep-2 cell line from 5 ADV positive samples. These isolated samples were analyzed by sequencing of hexon gene of ADV. The sequences were compared in the GenBank to confirm their subtype and analyze phylogenetic evolution. Results Among the 17 nasal and throat swabs samples, 5 (5/7) were ADV positive, and these positive samples were comfirmed to be HADV-4 by analyzing the sequencing results. Conclusion The acute respiratory virus outbreak was caused by human adenovirus type 4. Key words: Adenoviridae; Respiratory tract infections; Disease outbreak