Virulent form of cold virus spreads in U.S.
A new and virulent strain of adenovirus, which frequently causes the common cold, has spread in parts of the United States, killing 10 people and putting dozens into hospitals, U.S. health officials said.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report detailed cases of people ill since May 2006 with a strain of the virus called adenovirus 14 in New York, Oregon, Washington state and Texas.
"Whether you're a healthy young adult, an infant or an elderly person, this virus can cause severe respiratory disease at any age," said John Su, who investigates infectious diseases for the CDC and contributed to the report.
Two of the 10 people who have died from the new strain were infants, Su said. The CDC report said about 140 people have been sickened by the virus and more than 50 hospitalized, including 24 admitted to intensive care units.
Adenoviruses frequently cause acute upper respiratory tract infections like the common cold, but also can cause other illnesses including inflammation of the stomach and intestines, pink eye, bladder infection and rashes.
Colds caused by adenoviruses can be very severe in the very young and the very old, as well as in certain other people, like those with compromised immune systems.
"For most everybody else, it causes a mild illnesses, you get over it, life goes on," Su said in a telephone interview.
"What makes this particular adenovirus a little different is that it has the capability of making healthy young adults severely ill. And that's unusual for an adenovirus, and that's why it's got our attention," Su added.
The first case described in the report was that of an infant girl in New York City who died in May 2006.
The report also described illnesses from the virus at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
A 19-year-old female recruit at the base died from the virus. Seven other people died in Oregon, including an infant. And a patient with AIDS died in Washington state.
"The cases described in this report are unusual because they suggest the emergence of a new and virulent Ad14 (adenovirus 14) variant that has spread within the United States," according to the CDC report.
It is possible there may be people outside of these four states ill from the new strain of the virus, Su said.
Doctors should be aware, Su said, that if a patient has severe respiratory symptoms or worsening respiratory symptoms, this particular strain of adenovirus might be involved, and they might want to run tests to check. There are 51 different types of adenoviruses, the CDC report said.