Reemergence of Human Adenovirus 14

Abstract

This chapter presents a brief overview of human adenovirus (HAdV) infections. The HAdVs are classified within the family Adenoviridae, genus Mastadenovirus. The chapter describes a new human adenovirus 14 (HAdV-14) variant, its emergence, and clinical and epidemiologic features of infection. Acute respiratory illness (ARI) is the most commonly recognized manifestation of HAdV infection and the types that cause ARI are the focus of this chapter, with special emphasis on the species B viruses which are most closely related to HAdV-14. The first HAdV-14 cases were also noted in 2006 from national surveys of military recruits and civilians conducted between 2002 and 2006. The first investigation in Oregon demonstrated the potential for serious complications of infection but also suggested that many more cases were undetected. Since no common exposures or contact among cases, with one exception, were identified, unrecognized cases must have accounted for virus spread within the community. A small study of HAdV-14-infected patients suggested HAdV-7 neutralizing antibodies provided protection from serious complications of HAdV-14 infection. In this study, 7 of 19 (39%) basic military trainees (BMTs) with a mild HAdV-14 illness and 0/16 BMTs hospitalized with HAdV-14 pneumonia had HAdV-7 neutralizing antibodies (P < 0.007). There are many examples of the emergence of variant HAdVs. The emergent HAdV-14 is readily detected by conventional diagnostic methods used for other HAdVs, including cell culture, immunoassay, and PCR.