Adenovirus infections are endemic in nature, showing little tendency to occur seasonally or in outbreaks. Forty-one serotypes with strict specificity for humans show a predominant association with respiratory and ocular disease symptoms. While adenovirus infections show little significance in adults, with the exception of occasional outbreaks observed in military recruits (types 4, 7, 21), they play a major role with children under 6 in febrile respiratory illnesses. Adenovirus may be involved in most major types of respiratory disease syndromes. It is the most common cause of pharyngitis in children under 6 and is also a cause of laryngitis, croup, bronchitis/tracheobronchitis (especially type 7), and bronchiolitis. Adenovirus types 1, 2, 3, 5, 12, and 19 have been closely linked to pertussis-like syndromes, while types 3, 7, and 21 may cause pneumonia. Worldwide, types 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 are isolated more frequently than other types.

Direct detection using IF techniques is simple to use and tends to be negative in patients carrying the virus incidentally. Thus, identification by IF from respiratory sites during illness is more likely to be of etiological importance than adenovirus recovered in culture isolation. Serological techniques may be of little value for initial screening since not all infections result in a response in infants and young children. No matter what detection method is utilised, all findings of adenovirus infection must be interpreted cautiously since the virus is capable of latency and recrudescence. Direct detection by IF has been shown to be a reliable method for detection of adenovirus infections.

Please refer to Viral Respiratory Diseases for information on the VRK kit.