Current status of human adenovirus infection in China

Outbreaks of severe, acute hepatitis among children have recently attracted global attention. The pathogen causing the outbreak remains unknown, but there is growing evidence that it may be associated with human adenovirus (HAdV).

A review of adenovirus-related clinical studies, epidemiological studies, etiological studies, and case reports was conducted by reviewers independently.

HAdV can cause a wide variety of clinical symptoms. In the Mainland of China, HAdV infection accounts for 5.8%-13% of patients with acute respiratory infections, and these infections are mainly caused by species B, C, and E of HAdV. For acute conjunctivitis, 39.8%-74.9% of sporadic cases were infected by B and D species of HAdV. Outbreaks of keratoconjunctivitis and pharyngoconjunctival fever related to HAdV infection could be found throughout the country. In pediatric patients with acute gastroenteritis, HAdV-41 was the predominant HAdV type, followed by HAdV species B and C. Several types of HAdV, including HAdV-5, HAdV-7, HAdV-1, and HAdV-2, have previously been reported as potential pathogens associated with HAdV hepatitis in immunocompromised patients. However, few HAdV-related hepatitis cases have been reported in China to date.

There are no systematic surveillance and clinical studies on HAdV hepatitis in China. Therefore, it is imperative to establish a nationwide HAdV virological surveillance system to collect relevant clinical, epidemiological and virological surveillance data and risk factor information as soon as possible to assess the potential risk of HAdV hepatitis among children.