Human adenovirus lung disease: outbreaks, models of immune-response-driven acute lung injury and pandemic potential

Abstract

Purpose of reviewAn overview of epidemic, human adenovirus (HAdV) lung infections with proposed studies of the viral/host immune response interface to better understand mechanisms of immunopathogenesis, for development of improved responses to a potential HAdV pandemic.Recent findingsEmergent HAdV strains 7, 3, 4, 14 are the most common types associated with infection outbreaks. Recent outbreaks have revealed increased community spread, beyond epidemic group settings. The ongoing circulation of these virulent HAdV strains might allow for further HAdV adaptation, with increased HAdV spread and disease severity in the population that could theoretically result in expansion to a pandemic level.SummaryPublic health screening has revealed spread of HAdV outbreak strains to the general community. Despite expanded awareness of viral respiratory diseases during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, there has been limited, systematic monitoring of HAdV infection in the population. The shift in clinical laboratories to a focus on molecular diagnostics and away from classical methods of viral characterization has reduced the distribution of outbreak HAdV strains to the research community to study mechanisms of pathogenesis. This change risks reduced development of new preventive and therapeutic strategies that could be needed in the event of more widespread HAdV epidemics.

Construction and application of adenoviral vectors

“…HAd is a kind of double-stranded DNA virus without an envelope and susceptible to all age groups of the population, with a relatively high incidence in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals, who are also at a higher risk of complications from infection. 4 , 5 , 6 HAd is transmitted mainly by droplet, fecal-oral, and through contact with objects contaminated with the virus. The spread of HAd is particularly rapid in crowded or enclosed areas.…”