A Molecular Study of Adenovirus Type 8 Isolated from Viral Conjunctivitis in the Kaohsiung Area during 1983-1984: A Chronological Comparison of Subtypes by Endonuclease Cleavage Analysis

From march 1983 to February 1984, 74 isolates of adenovirus type 8 (Ad-8) were recovered from the conjunctival swabs of 692 cases with viral conjunctivitis in the Kaohsiung area. Out of the 47 Ad-8 isolates, 18 were selected randomly for enzymatic cleavage analysis with six different kinds of endonucleases: Pst Ⅰ, Hind Ⅲ, BamHⅠ, SalⅠ,SstⅠand SmaⅠ. A subtype comparison was made between the current 18 Ad-8 isolates and the 27 Ad-8 isolates recovered during the period from 1980 to 1981 in Kaohsiung which were described in our previous study. While the subtype C was predominant in the 1980-1981 period, the subtype E was most prevalent in the 1983-1984 period. A new subtype was identified and designated as subtype G in the current series of Ad-8 isolates studied. The prototype strain of Ad-8 (Trim) was not isolated in Kaohsiung among the series of Ad-8 isolates recovered in 1980-1981 and 1983-1984. The large numbers of variants in subtypes of suggested that this virus had continued to evolve in the Kaohsiung area during these years.