SUMMARYThere are few data about the distribution ofneutralizing antibodies (NA) against adenovirus types in the Italian population, especially the high-numbered ones. We tested the sera from 453 children and 51 young adults to evaluate NA against adenovirus prototypes 1-33. Using the microneutralization test, 338 (74-6 %) of the children's sera were positive for at least one adenovirus type. Antibody to type 2 was the most frequently detected followed, in descending order, by antibody to types 5, 1 and 3. All these types are known to be associated with disease but antibody to type 7, a type also associated with disease, was less frequent than that to other serotypes such as 18 and 31, the pathogenicity of which in man is not clearly established. The antibody positivity rate rose with age for the more frequent types while it did not vary for the less frequent ones. The number of sera with NA against more than one adenovirus type increased with age. With regard to types 1-8, we found that their frequencies in Italy were similar to those found in the U.S.A.

A fast-growing strain of human hepatitis A virus was selected and characterized. The virus has the unusual property of developing a strong cytopathic effect in tissue culture in 7 to 10 days. Sequences of the viral genome were cloned into recombinant plasmids with the double-stranded replicative form as a template for the reverse transcription of cDNA. Restriction analysis and direct sequencing indicate that this strain is different from that described by Ticehurst et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80:5885-5889, 1983) in the region that presumptively codes for the major capsid protein VP1, but both isolates have conserved large areas of homology in the untranslated 5'-terminal sequences of the genome.

A fatal case of Coxsackievirus B-6 (CBV-6) infection in a 4 1/2-year-old girl is reported. The disease was initially characterized by a severe meningoencephalitis and, successively, by the appearance of hyperglycaemia and glycosuria, concomitantly with complement-fixing-islet cell antibodies (CF-ICA) and ICA, diarrhoea, electrolyte disorders, arrhythmia and decrease of the IgG levels, suggesting a multi-system involvement. CBV-6 was identified by isolation from stool and cerebrospinal fluid and by detection of specific IgM antibodies.

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In a series of young subjects, travel abroad, sex with more than one partner, and teen age, combined together, were significant risk factors for the acquisition of Chlamydia trachomatis genitourinary infection.