A New Genometype of Adenovirus Serotype 4 Causing Nosocomial Infections of Epidemic Keratoconjunctivitis In Japan

Abstract

Abstract: : Purpose: To determine genome type of adenovirus (AdV) serotype and analyze their genetic relationship, 36 isolates from the cases at 5 hospitals in Japan with nosocomial infections of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis during 1984 to 2001. Methods: The genetic relationship of the 36 AdV-4 isolates was analyzed based on the complete sequence of the fiber region and the 916-bp partial sequences of the 3' hexon region. The genome type of the AdV-4 isolate was identified using restriction endonucleases, BamH I, Eco RI, Sma I, and Xho I. Results: 1. The 36 AdV-4 isolates were specifically neutralized with the antiserum against AdV-4. 2. The hexon sequence of 36 isolates showed the highest homology with AdV-4 prototype strain (98.0%). However the fiber sequences of the isolates showed a 99.8 to 100% homology with each other and a 98.0 to 99.7% homology with the AdV-4 prototype strain. 3. The 8 isolates from epidemic keratoconjunctivitis in the same hospital and 2 isolates from one eye clinic in 2001 had identical fiber sequences. However, the cleavage patterns of the isolates in 2001, with Bam HI, were not identical to those of AdV-4a or other 6 genotypes of AdV-4. Conclusions: The findings suggest that a newly identified genome type of AdV-4 caused nosocomial infections in 2001.

Keywords: adenovirus • conjunctivitis • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: bio