Gene

Molecular epidemiology

Biology

TaqMan

Diarrhea

Virology

Acute gastroenteritis

Enteric virus

Genetics

Norovirus

Physics

Diarrhoeal disease

Optics

Genotype

Microbiology

Internal medicine

Epidemiology

Medicine

Virus

Polymerase chain reaction

Incidence (geometry)

Rotavirus

Scientific Reports

Human adenovirus (HAdV) types F40/41 have long been recognized as major viral agents of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children. Despite this, studies on HAdV molecular epidemiology are sparse, and their real impact is likely under-estimated. Thus, our goal was to investigate HAdV incidence, enteric and non-enteric types circulation, co-detections with rotavirus and norovirus and DNA shedding in stool samples from inpatients and outpatients from eleven Brazilian states. During the three-year study, 1012 AGE stool samples were analysed by TaqMan-based qPCR, to detect and quantify HAdV. Positive samples were genotyped by partial sequencing of the hexon gene followed by phylogenetic analysis. Co-detections were accessed by screening for rotavirus and norovirus. Overall, we detected HAdV in 24.5% of single-detected samples (n = 248), with a prevalence of type F41 (35.8%). We observed a higher incidence in children between 6 to 24 months, without marked seasonality. Additionally, we observed a statistically higher median viral load among single-detections between enteric and non-enteric types and a significantly lower HAdV viral load compared to rotavirus and norovirus in co-detections (p &lt; 0.0001). Our study contributes to the knowledge of HAdV epidemiology and reinforces the need for the inclusion of enteric types F40/41 in molecular surveillance programs.

Human enteric adenovirus F40/41 as a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in children in Brazil, 2018 to 2020