This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: JCM.02354-07v1 46/10/3259    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Google Scholar Articles by Aoki, K. Articles by Yamazaki, S. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Aoki, K. Articles by Yamazaki, S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2008, p. 3259-3269, Vol. 46, No. 10
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02354-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Epidemic Keratoconjunctivitis Due to the Novel Hexon-Chimeric-Intermediate 22,37/H8 Human Adenovirus

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan,¹ Host Defense Laboratory, Mitsubishi Chemical Medience Corporation, Tokyo 174-8535, Japan,² Department of Microbiology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan,³ AIDS Vaccine Development Association, Tokyo 169-0075, Japan⁴

Received 8 December 2007/ Returned for modification 5 March 2008/ Accepted 22 July 2008

In a 2-month period in 2003, we encountered an outbreak of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) in Japan. We detected 67 human adenoviruses (HAdVs) by PCR from eye swabs of patients with EKC at five eye clinics in different parts of Japan. Forty-one of the 67 HAdV DNAs from the swabs were identified as HAdV-37 by phylogenetic analysis using a partial hexon gene sequence. When the restriction patterns of these viral genomes were compared with that of the HAdV-37 prototype strain, one isolate showed a never-before-seen restriction pattern. Within 1 year, we encountered three more EKC cases caused by a genetically identical virus: two nosocomial infections at two different university hospitals and a sporadic infection at an eye clinic. We determined the nucleotide sequences of the full-length hexon and fiber genes of these isolates and compared them to those of the 51 prototype strains. Surprisingly, the sequence of the hexon ( determinant) loop-1 and -2 regions showed the highest nucleotide identity with HAdV-22, a rare EKC isolate. However, the nucleotide sequence of the fiber gene was identical to that of the HAdV-8 prototype strain. 22 We propose that this virus is a new hexon-chimeric intermediate HAdV-22,37/H8, and may be an etiological agent of EKC.

Published ahead of print on 13 August 2008.