Reducing Adenoviral Patient Infected Days (RAPID): Prevalence of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Confirmed Adenovirus Among Patients Presenting With Acute Conjunctivitis

Abstract

Purpose : To compare the reported prevalence of adenovirus among patients presenting with acute conjunctivitis in our national, multi-center study to four published reports. We examine the effect of season and geographic region on the estimate of the prevalence of PCR confirmed adenovirus.

Methods : From October 2015 to April 2017, eight medical centers in seven geographically diverse regions in the United States screened patients presenting with clinical signs of acute conjunctivitis for eligibility in a pilot clinical trial of an investigational treatment of adenoviral conjunctivitis. Patients ≥18 years of age and those with symptom onset ≤4 days prior to presentation were screened. All patients screened were included in prevalence analysis regardless of randomization status into the RAPID study. Tear samples were collected from the first affected eye and evaluated by PCR. We report overall prevalence of PCR confirmed adenovirus, seasonal variation, and geographic regions.

Results : A total of 104 patients who presented with acute conjunctivitis were screened. The overall prevalence of PCR confirmed adenovirus in tear samples was 15% (16/104). Prevalence of adenovirus was 37% during the spring, 8% during the summer, 10% during the fall, and 12% during the winter. Prevalence varied markedly by region from 0% (0/12) to 36% (5/11). In four published reports of patients presenting with acute conjunctivitis, the prevalence of PCR confirmed adenovirus was 8% (44/542 over 36 months; Baltimore), 25% (47/186 over 8 months, prevalence not reported by region), 27% (34/125; season/duration and prevalence not reported by region), 62% (31/52 in July-October; Philadelphia).

Conclusions : The prevalence of PCR confirmed adenovirus in patients presenting with acute conjunctiviitis in our study was lower than most published reports. The prevalence of PCR confirmed adenovirus varied considerably by season and geographic region. Studies conducted in different seasons and geographic regions report similar variations in prevalence.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.