Molecular identification of adenovirus causing respiratory tract infection in pediatric patients at the University of Malaya Medical Center

Abstract

BackgroundThere are at least 51 adenovirus serotypes (AdV) known to cause human infections. The prevalence of the different human AdV (HAdV) serotypes varies among different regions. Presently, there are no reports of the prevalent HAdV types found in Malaysia. The present study was undertaken to identify the HAdV types associated primarily with respiratory tract infections (RTI) of young children in Malaysia.MethodsArchived HAdV isolates from pediatric patients with RTI seen at the University of Malaya Medical Center (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 1999 to 2005 were used. Virus isolates were inoculated into cell culture and DNA was extracted when cells showed significant cytopathic effects. AdV partial hexon gene was amplified and the sequences together with other known HAdV hexon gene sequences were used to build phylogenetic trees. Identification of HAdV types found among young children in Malaysia was inferred from the phylograms.ResultsAt least 2,583 pediatric patients with RTI sought consultation and treatment at the UMMC from 1999 to 2005. Among these patients, 48 (< 2%) were positive for HAdV infections. Twenty-seven isolates were recovered and used for the present study. Nineteen of the 27 (~70%) isolates belonged to HAdV species C (HAdV-C) and six (~22%) were of HAdV species B (HAdV-B). Among the HAdV-C species, 14 (~74%) of them were identified as HAdV type 1 (HAdV-1) and HAdV type 2 (HAdV-2), and among the HAdV-B species, HAdV type 3 (HAdV-3) was the most common serotype identified. HAdV-C species also was isolated from throat and rectal swabs of children with hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Two isolates were identified as corresponding to HAdV-F species from a child with HFMD and a patient with intestinal obstruction.ConclusionsHAdV-1 and HAdV-2 were the most common HAdV isolated from pediatric patients who sought treatment for RTI at the UMMC from 1999 to 2005. HAdV-B, mainly HAdV-3, was recovered from ~22% of the patients. These findings provide a benchmark for future studies on the prevalence and epidemiology of HAdV types in Malaysia and in the region.

Detection of three human adenovirus species in adults with acute respiratory infection in China

“…Our data underscore the important role of HAdV in adult ARTIs in China. The 0.8% detection rate of HAdV in this study is lower than the 2.0 to 9.14% reported in several previously published studies [12,22,23]. This disparity cannot be attributed to the detection method used, as our PCR experiments which target a different hexon gene fragment and a different gene (E1A) are consistent with our PCR screening results.…”

Computational Analysis of Two Species C Human Adenoviruses Provides Evidence of a Novel Virus

“…Another report observed that 23% of the pathogens causing acute respiratory disease in 100 Mexican children were HAdVs, with all of the isolates identified as species C exclusively (32), including HAdV-C6. This was also observed in a recent survey of Malaysian HAdV respiratory tract infections, which noted that species C were the most commonly isolated HAdV among pediatric patients in a 7-year period (1).…”

Molecular Diagnosis of Human Adenovirus in Children with Upper Respiratory Tract Infections

“…A similar study in which high HAdV infections (47.6%) were shown at the age group ≤ 1 to ≥3 years compared to age group 3-≤ 6 years and 6-≤ 15 years at 28.1%, 11%, respectively [35]. The study finding is also, comparable to other studies of HAdV infection in other part of the world indicating that children under the age of 3 years were most susceptible to HAdV infection [36][37][38]. In previous experiments for the detection of HAdV in RTI, we observed that Children at age between 6 to 15 years usually have a lower rate of infection.…”