Molecular epidemiology of adenoviral conjunctivitis in Hanoi, Vietnam.

PURPOSE: To investigate the serotypes of adenovirus causing conjunctivitis in Hanoi, Vietnam.

DESIGN

Clinical diagnosis of adenoviral conjunctivitis and laboratory-based experimental study.

METHODS

We collected 21 conjunctival swabs from 21 different patients with a clinical presentation compatible with adenoviral conjunctivitis, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Immunochromatography and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed to detect human adenovirus (HAdV). The sequence of PCR products was analyzed to determine the serotype of HAdV.

RESULTS

Of 21 samples, HAdV DNA was detected in 14 samples (66.7%) by real-time PCR. The serotype analysis showed HAdV-8 in 11 samples (78.6%), HAdV-3 in two samples (14.3%), and HAdV-37 in one sample (7.1%). Of 11 HAdV-8 samples, one sample (9.1%) was prototype, and the other 10 samples (90.9%) had identical nucleotide sequence and were identified as a variant of HAdV-8.

CONCLUSIONS

HAdV-8 was found to be the predominant serotype in Hanoi, Vietnam. Most of the HAdV-8 samples were a variant of HAdV-8.