Investigation of Adenoviruses in Patients with Conjunctivitis by Various Methods

Abstract

Adenoviruses are the most common causative agents of epidemics of community acquired and nosocomial conjunctivitis. Adenoviruses are resistant to physical and chemical factors and they can spread easily. Due to these factors, rapid and accurate diagnosis is very important in adenoviral eye infections. In this study, it was aimed to investigate adenoviruses from conjunctival swab samples of 50 patients suspected of adenoviral conjunctivitis by two different cell culture and PCR methods. Conjunctival swab samples from patients suspected of adenoviral conjunctivitis were taken between March 2012-December -11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22 cause conjunctivitis, serotypes 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 19, 21, 22, 29, 34, 37, 53, 54, 56 cause epidemic keratoconjunctivitis and serotypes 3, 4 and 7 cause pharyngoconjunctival fever (5,7,8). Outbreaks of adenoviral infections are common (9). Due to remaining infectious at room temperature for weeks and high level of resistance to environmental factors, transmission of adenovirus may occur easily (9,10). As can be transmitted from person to person, transmission may occur through water, objects and medical devices. Therefore nosocomial adenovirus infections can be seen (10).Adenoviral infections are mainly diagnosed by direct methods such as cell culture, nucleic acid detection and antigen detection (10,11). Indirect diagnosis based on the serological methods are mainly preferred in epidemiological researches instead of diagnosing adenoviral infections because of their low sensitivity rates (11). Rapid diagnose in adenoviral eye infections, especially in outbreaks of nosocomial conjunctivitis is very important and essential for confirmation of clinical diagnosis, limiting the spread of infection, implementation of appropriate protective measures and prevention of inappropriate treatment (12). Promptly isolation of infected individuals is critically important for control of outbreaks in both community acquired and nosocomial outbreaks (13). In this study, it was aimed to investigate adenovirus from conjunctival swab samples of patients suspected of adenoviral conjunctivitis by cell culture and PCR methods. MATERIALS AND METHODSThis study was performed in Virology Laboratory, with approval of Local Ethics Committee approval (06/05/2010) and supported by Scientific Research Projects Department (TSU-11-3645 code number). Total of 50 patients admitted to Ophthalmology Clinic whom suspected of adenoviral conjunctivitis between March 2012-December 2012 were included in this study. Two sets of conjunctival swab samples using plastic handle with a Dacron swab were taken from each patient. All samples were hold in viral transport medium (Vircell, Spain) in -70 °C until the day of study. One of the viral transport medium was used in