Five-year analysis of adenovirus 8 antibody levels in an industrial community following an outbreak of keratoconjunctivitis.

Serum hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibody titers were monitored for five years with samples from 79 keratoconjunctivitis patients with type 8 adenovirus (AV-8) infection. Geometric mean antibody titers declined from 1:161 at the peak of the epidemic to 1:56 after five years. Computerized analysis of the decline in geometric mean antibody titer indicates that most patients will have a serum HI titer of 1:25 by 10 years after their clinical infection. These residual antibody levels and the consistent failure to document re-infection with AV-8 suggest that recurrent episodes of keratoconjunctivitis are caused by adenovirus serotypes other than type 8.