Enteric and non-enteric adenoviruses in children with acute gastroenteritis in Western India

Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are among the most important etiological agents of acute gastroenteritis (AGE). HAdVs found in 5.2% of children admitted for AGE between 2013 and 2016 in seven different hospitals across four cities of Western India. The dominance of subgroup-F (52.4%) strains was observed, followed by the occurrence of non-enteric adenoviruses of the subgroup A (17.4%), C (11.4%), B (8.2%), and D (3.2%). The subgroup-F strains were predominant in Ahmadabad (78.5%), Mumbai (61.5%), and Surat (57.1%) cities, followed by subgroup A strains.  In Pune city, subgroup B and C strains were detected in 62.5% of AGE patients, with none of the subgroup A strains. Clinically, patients infected with enteric and non-enteric HAdV strains were indistinguishable from each other. However, a high viral load was observed in subgroup-F specimens as compared to non-subgroup-F. The study highlights the need for viral load estimation to ascertain the role of enteric and non-enteric HAdV strains associated with diarrheal etiology.