Molecular typing of conjunctivitis-causing adenoviruses in Hanoi, Vietnam from 2017 to 2019 and complete genome analysis of the most prevalent type (HAdV-8)

Abstract

Adenoviral conjunctivitis is a common epidemic worldwide. In Vietnam, up to 80,000 patients are infected with adenoviral conjunctivitis annually. However, there are few investigations on the pathogenic adenoviruses that cause conjunctivitis. In total, 120 eye-swab samples were collected from patients with viral conjunctivitis symptoms in Hanoi, Vietnam from 2017 to 2019. Human adenoviruse (HAdV) was detected in 67 samples (55.83%) using polymerase chain reaction amplification of at least one of three HAdV-specific marker genes (hexon, penton, and fiber). Of the 67 HAdV samples, 46 samples could be analyzed by all three marker genes. DNA sequence analysis and phylogenetic tree building based on the three marker genes from the 46 HAdV samples revealed five different HAdV types associated with conjunctivitis in Hanoi, including HAdV-3 (4.3%), HAdV-4 (2.2%), HAdV-8 (89.1%), HAdV-37 (2.2%), and a potential recombinant type between types HAdV-8 and HAdV-3 (2.2%). This showed that HAdV-8 was the most common type identified in Hanoi. Complete genome analysis of HAdV-8 isolated from a Vietnamese patient (VN2017) using Sanger sequencing revealed 34 unique nucleotide changes, indicating that the adenovirus continuously accumulates new mutations. Hence, continuous surveillance of HAdV-8 changes in Vietnam is necessary in the future.

Keywords: HAdV-8 genome; Vietnam; conjunctivitis; human adenovirus; phylogenetic analysis.