Detection, typing and subtyping of enteric adenoviruses 40 and 41 in fecal samples, and observation of changing incidences of infections with these types and subtypes.

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) preparations specific for the enteric adenoviruses of subgenus F (AdF) were generated and evaluated as typing reagents in virus neutralization tests and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). A panel of 11 genome types of adenovirus 40 (Ad40), 24 genome types of Ad41, and 47 adenovirus prototype strains was used to determine the specificities of the MAbs in the two assays. In this way two MAbs, MAb 40-1 (anti-Ad40) and MAb 41-1 (anti-Ad41) were selected. These two MAbs showed strict type specificity in both assays. A third MAb reacted in an ELISA with all 47 human adenovirus types. With two other MAbs, three antigenic subtypes of Ad41 could be distinguished by their reactivities in virus neutralization tests and ELISAs. On the basis of the five selected MAbs, a sensitive ELISA system was developed for the direct detection and simultaneous typing and subtyping of Ad40 and Ad41 present in stool specimens. The five MAbs were also used to study the epidemiology of infections with Ad40 and Ad41 in The Netherlands in the period 1981 through 1989. It was shown that there were no significant fluctuations in the annual incidence of the cluster of enteric adenoviruses as a whole. This cluster should therefore be considered to belong to the "endemic" rather than the "epidemic" adenoviruses. The relative incidence of Ad40 infections compared with that of Ad41 infections changed considerably during the period studied; the proportion of Ad41 infections rose from about 30% in 1981 to about 95% in 1986, after which it stabilized at 90 to 95%. The proportion of one of the subtypes of Ad41 (Ad41 subtype M3) increased from about 40 to 80% in the same period.