Secular trend of genome types of respiratory adenovirus type 3 during 1983-2005: a study from Taiwan

Genome type analysis of adenovirus type 3 (Ad3) in Taiwan identified four types (Ad3a, Ad3a2, Ad3a1, Ad3-7) during 1983-2005. Ad3a was the major type during 1983-1999, while Ad3a2 was the predominant type from 2001 to 2005. Phylogenetic analysis of the hexon gene of 23 isolates revealed that most Ad3a2 and Ad3-7 isolates belonged to one cluster, and most Ad3a isolates to the other cluster. The clinical manifestations included respiratory tract infections, acute gastroenteritis, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, febrile convulsion and pharyngoconjunctival fever. In conclusion, Ad3a2 has replaced Ad3a as the most common genome type in Taiwan since 2001.