Outbreak of adenovirus genome type 7d2 infection in a pediatric chronic-care facility and tertiary-care hospital

An outbreak of adenovirus infection that involved residents of a pediatric chronic-care facility, staff of a tertiary-care hospital, and a nosocomial hospital case was studied. In the pediatric facility, 31 (33%) of 93 reside nts had adenovirus infection, and 8 died. Risk factors for illness were an age of <7 years (P =.004) presence of a tracheostomy (P=.015), and residenc e on a particular floor (P<.001). In the tertiary-care hospital, 36 health care workers had adenovirus infection; 26 (72%) had failed to follow strict contact and droplet precautions, and 30 (83%) continued to care for patien ts while they had symptoms. A 5-month-old patient with underlying lung dise ase acquired severe adenovirus infection in this hospital. All isolates wer e adenovirus type 7 (Ad7). DNA restriction analysis revealed the band patte rns of all isolates to be identical and characteristic of the genome type d 2. Thus, Ad7d2 caused significant morbidity and mortality in persons in the pediatric chronic-care facility and tertiary-care hospital. This is the fi rst published description of Ad7d2 strains in the United States.