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.