J Bacteriol Virol.  2018 Jun;48(2):59-66. 10.4167/jbv.2018.48.2.59.

Molecular Epidemiology of Viral Conjunctivitis in the Southern Region of South Korea, 2012–2016

• Park DW
• Kim MJ
• Kim KG
• Cho SJ
• Park HJ
• Shin JH
• Ha YD
• Seo MH
• Kim JH
• Lee Y
• Park MD
• Yoon HM
• Kim ES
• Hong YJ
• Kee H
• Chung JK

• KMID: 2414856
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4167/jbv.2018.48.2.59

Abstract

Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) and acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) are common diseases caused by human adenoviruses (HAdV) and enteroviruses, respectively, in South Korea. However, there are limited studies on the molecular epidemiology of viral conjunctivitis in South Korea. The main objective of this study was to characterize the genotypes of adenoviruses and enteroviruses causing viral conjunctivitis in the southwest region of South Korea. We collected conjunctival swabs from 492 patients with suspected cases of viral conjunctivitis from 6 ophthalmic hospitals in Gwangju Metropolitan City, in South Korea, between 2012 and 2016. Of the 492 samples tested, HAdVs and enteroviruses were detected in 249 samples (50.6%) and 19 samples (3.9%), respectively. The genotype analysis detected HAdV-8 in 183 samples (73.5%), HAdV-37 in 14 samples (5.6%), and HAdV-3, and HAdV-4 in 9 samples (3.6%) each. We detected coxsackievirus A24 (CVA24) and coxsackievirus B1 (CVB1) in 8 samples (42.0%) and 4 samples (21.0%), respectively. We also reported for the first time HAdV-56-infected cases of EKC in South Korea. Furthermore, we found three cases of coinfection with HAdV and enterovirus genotypes in our samples. HAdV-8 and CVA24, the main causes of EKC and AHC, respectively, worldwide, were also found to be the predominant genotypes in our study.

Keyword

Viral conjuntivitis; Adenovirus; Molecular epidemiology

MeSH Terms

Adenoviridae
Adenoviruses, Human
Coinfection
Conjunctivitis, Acute Hemorrhagic
Conjunctivitis, Viral*
Enterovirus
Genotype
Gwangju
Humans
Keratoconjunctivitis
Korea*
Molecular Epidemiology*

Figure

• 

  Figure 1 Type distribution of HAdV and enterovirus isolated from patients with viral conjunctivitis in Gwangju from 2012 to 2016. (A) HAdV, (B) Enterovirus

• 

  Figure 2 Phylogenetic analysis of the partial hexon gene of HAdV-8 (458 nt). Nucleotide sequences were analyzed by the neighbor-joining method using MEGA6 software. Seventeen sequences were compared to reference strains from other countries reported in the previous years in GeneBank. The numbers at the branches indicate the bootstrap values for 1,000 replicates. Bootstrap values less than 50% were omitted.

• 

  Figure 3 Phylogenetic analysis of the VP1 gene of CVA24 (436 nt). Nucleotide sequences were analyzed by the neighbor-joining method using MEGA6 software. Eight sequences were compared to reference strains from other countries reported in the previous years in GeneBank. The numbers at the branches indicate the bootstrap values for 1,000 replicates. Bootstrap values less than 50% were omitted.

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