Sporadic acute respiratory infections in adults with special reference to adenovirus infections.

Abstract

Four out of fifty acute respiratory infections occurring in forty-five adult volunteers in a teaching hospital, from October 1956 to July 1957, were associated with infection by a member of the adenovirus group. In three of these adenovirus infections the clinical picture was quite distinct from that of the common cold, but not from other syndromes of unknown aetiology; in the fourth case the clinical picture was not easily distinguishable from the common cold.It is suggested on the basis of this study that adenovirus vaccines would do little towards reducing sporadic acute respiratory infections in this type of community.Complement-fixing and neutralizing antibody patterns to adenovirus Types 1–7, 9 and 10 were determined in paired sera from forty-four of the forty-five volunteers.I wish to thank all the volunteers who took part in this investigation, Mrs Audrey Rae, A.I.M.L.T., for expert technical assistance, Dr Nuala Crowley and Prof. K. R. Hill, Pathology Department, Royal Free Hospital, Dr H. G. Pereira, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, and Dr F. K. Sanders, M.R.C. Virus Research Unit, London School of Hygiene, for advice and help.