Increased circulation of adenovirus in China during 2023-2024: Association with an increased prevalence of species B and school-associated transmission

IF 14.3 1区医学 Q1 INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Journal of Infection Pub Date : 2025-03-21 DOI:10.1016/j.jinf.2025.106475

Ronghua Jin , Tian Qin , Pei Li , Jiale Yuan , Hui Li , Ying Liu , Min Wang , Jianguo Xu , Yamin Sun

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

We report on the surge in human adenovirus (HAdV) cases in China starting in October 2023 and analyze the key drivers behind this increased circulation in the post-COVID-19 period.

Methods

We analyzed targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) data from 1,875,862 hospitalized acute respiratory infection (ARI) cases across 4758 hospitals in 314 cities throughout all 31 provinces of mainland China. An in-house script was used to analyze the positivity rates of different HAdV species nationwide and across various provinces. We also assessed the age-specific infection risk for HAdV species B and C using restricted cubic splines (RCS), and we tested differences in HAdV infection rates between vacation periods and school terms using the Kruskal–Wallis test.

Results

We identified an increased prevalence of HAdV species B replacing circulating species C, and this increase was associated with elevated HAdV activity in China from October 2023 to August 2024. Age-specific analysis indicates that, compared to HAdV species C, HAdV species B has a higher infection rate in school-aged children. Comparison of HAdV incidence rates during school terms and vacations showed that schools are the primary transmission setting for HAdV species B. These findings strongly support the conclusion that school-associated cluster infections caused by HAdV species B are the drivers of the ongoing increased circulation of HAdV in China.

Conclusion

This study found that changes in susceptible populations and transmission settings due to an increased prevalence of HAdV species B were the key factors driving the elevated HAdV activity in China starting in October 2023.

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来源期刊

Journal of Infection 医学-传染病学

CiteScore

45.90

自引率

3.20%

发文量

475

审稿时长

16 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Infection publishes original papers on all aspects of infection - clinical, microbiological and epidemiological. The Journal seeks to bring together knowledge from all specialties involved in infection research and clinical practice, and present the best work in the ever-changing field of infection. Each issue brings you Editorials that describe current or controversial topics of interest, high quality Reviews to keep you in touch with the latest developments in specific fields of interest, an Epidemiology section reporting studies in the hospital and the general community, and a lively correspondence section.