An epidemic of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis caused by enterovirus 70 in Okinawa, Japan, in 1994

Abstract

These findings demonstrate that the clinical features of AHC observed in this study were milder than those reported previously, in contrast to the high transmission rate during an epidemic. Changes in clinical features of AHC, such as a low incidence of subconjunctival haemorrhage and disappearance of neurological complications, might be due to biological transformation of EV70. It should be noted that EV70 is still an important aetiological agent of explosive epidemics of AHC.

The change of etiological agents and clinical signs of epidemic viral conjunctivitis over an 18-year period in southern Taiwan

“…A similar fluctuation in severity of conjunctivitis has also been observed among different outbreaks of AHC caused by EV70. For example, in a recent (1994) outbreak of EV70-associated AHC in Okinawa, Japan, the conjunctivitis was found to be milder than before [45]. Study of the 3C pro sequence may help delineate the phylogenetic relationships of viral strains from different areas or epidemics; however, it may not explain the fluctuations of their clinical signs.…”

“…There were four epidemics of EV70 AHC in 1980-1981 and 1983-1984 and none thereafter, though we used both RT-PCR and the cell culture method to increase the sensitivity of detection owing to the difficulty of culturing EV70 [48]. Despite two epidemics in neighboring areas, i.e., Guangzhou, China in 1988 [41] and Okinawa, Japan in 1994 [45], EV70 was not re-introduced to Taiwan despite the high number of people traveling to and fro. According to a Japanese report [1], anti-EV70 antibodies in EV70-infected patients gradually declined over a period of 7 years.…”

Selective human enterovirus and rhinovirus inhibitors: An overview of capsid‐binding and protease‐inhibiting molecules

“…Enterovirus and rhinovirus are two important pathogens within the family of picornaviridae. The human enteroviruses, so-called because most inhabit the enteric tract, include the polioviruses (types 1, 2, and 3), coxsackieviruses A (23 serotypes), coxsackieviruses B (6 serotypes), the echoviruses (32 serotypes), and the numbered enteroviruses [68][69][70][71][72][73] (Table I). [1][2][3][4] Enterovirus 72 has been reclassified as the hepatitis A virus.…”

Acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis epidemic caused by coxsackievirus A24 variants in Korea during 2002–2003

“…The epidemic of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis in Japan in 1985-1986 started in July 1985 soon after a large outbreak in Singapore in March 1985 in Okinawa Prefecture. The neutralizing antibody positive rate against CA24v of serum samples collected before and immediately after the 1985 epidemic rose from 1.0% to 8.5%, and the percentage of school children among acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis cases were two to three times higher than other groups [Miyamura et al, 1988] and an epidemic of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis caused by an enterovirus in 1994 showed a similar pattern [Uchio et al, 1999]. In Taiwan, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis epidemic occurred during [1985][1986][1987][1988][1989].…”