ABSTRACT
Objective To describe the clinical characteristics and etiology diagnosis of an outbreak of acute respiratory tract infection in a military camp. Methods Two hundred and twenty-five cases were investigated using unified epidemiological questionnaires to describe the epidemiological characteristics. The etiological tests of 30 pharynx swab specimen were performed. The serum neutralized antibodies of 52 patients in acute and convalescence phases were detected by neutralization test. The patients and their close contacts were isolated. Air, stuffs and ground were all disinfected. Results Two hundred and twenty-five cases were distributed all the camp with obvious dormitory aggregation and the aggregation rate was 44. 9%. Among the 225 cases, all cases had fever and 161 (71.6%) had cough, 111 (49.3%) had pharyngalgia, 102 (45.3%) had headache, 31 (13.8%) had chest stuffy and 4(1. 8%) had dyspnea. Twenty (66. 7%) phargnxswab specimens turned to be adenorirus gene positive by polymerase chain reaction. Pharynx swab specimens were cultured in HepG2, Hela, RD and Vero cells, and 16 (53. 3%) presented with cytopathic changes. IgM antibody screening demonstrated that 24 cases were infected with Adenovirus, and neutralization test showed that antibodies increased ≥4 folds in paired sera from 28 cases. During 10 days after patient isolation and general disinfection, there was no new case of Adenovirus infection. Conclusions This outbreak of acute respiratory tract infection in a military camp was caused by Adenovirus, Timely andreasonable preventing measures can control the epidemic quickly.