Clinical picture and epidemiology of adenovirus infections (a review).

Adenoviruses produce a variety of serious diseases in people of all ages. The mode of transmission of adenovirus infections includes respiratory, fomite, droplet, venereal, and faecal-oral routes. They have been shown to spread with ease in AIDS patients, in young children and in hospitalized patients. A constant rate of about 8% of world-wide reported virus infections were observed to be due to adenovirus infections. In the military, it can cause serious respiratory disease (ARD) of epidemic proportion in new recruits. The present commercial vaccine is prepared in unique triple-layered tablets containing live lyophilized virus. This vaccine has been taken by more than ten million subjects during the past 25 years with no adverse reaction and with near total eradication of ARD epidemics among new recruits at training centers. As the epidemiology of adenovirus diseases becomes more clearly defined, the need for and the possible role of potential vaccines, is becoming more evident.