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Docs: Killer Cold Strain Little Cause for Alarm

Posted on: Saturday, 17 November 2007, 06:00 CST

A mutant common cold virus that killed a 12-day-old Manhattan infant and nine other people nationwide is a re-emergent strain that circulated in the 1950s and '60s before seeming to almost vanish.

Now that it's back, scientists are trying to learn about the genetic changes that adenovirus 14 -- Ad14 -- developed during the four decades since it dropped off their radar.

"Adenovirus 14 has been seen only with rare exceptions since the 1960s," said Dr. Larry Anderson, director of viral illnesses in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Even though the virus is essentially new to 21st century medicine, Anderson said it is not likely to be a source of outbreaks or serious public concern.

"First of all, there is no reason to be alarmed," he said. "This is an uncommon infection. You have a much greater chance of being infected with influenza or a rhinovirus," he said of another pathogen that can cause the common cold. Colds, he said, also are caused by another family of infectious agents known as coronaviruses.

All told, there are 51 known adenoviruses, Anderson said, which in addition to causing the common cold are also linked to pneumonia and bronchitis. The CDC, aided by state health departments in New York, Texas, Oregon and Washington, have documented 140 infections triggered by the variant strain over the past 18 months.

Dr. Ken Steier, director of patient safety at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, said Ad14 should be put into perspective. With only 140 cases, infections linked to the variant come nowhere near the prevalence of influenza, he said, which affects millions of people each year -- and sometimes carries a death sentence. Influenza causes 36,000 deaths annually in the United States and more than 200,000 hospitalizations.

"There's no specific treatment for any adenovirus infection," Steier said. "Usually we recommend aspirin, fluids and bed rest. But it's also important to cover your cough, wash your hands, and don't rub your eyes after touching things."

The Manhattan baby's infection was identified as Ad14 by the New York State Health Department's Wadsworth Center laboratory. The CDC further confirmed the pathogen as the cause of death. Identified only as a girl who was sickened when 3 days old, her case was probed because all childhood respiratory deaths are investigated by local and state health authorities in New York. She died in May 2006, and her plight came to light in a CDC report this week.

"The confirmed case of Ad14 is the only [one] seen in New York," said Jeffrey Hammond, spokesman for the state Health Department. "It's important to note that our surveillance database goes back to 1986."

Other cases have involved military recruits elsewhere in the country, Anderson said. One recruit died after a three-week illness.

UNDERSTANDING A PATHOGEN

Ad14 is a mutant common cold virus in the family of pathogens called adenoviruses.

The virus is considered a re-emerging pathogen. Scientists have not determined its prevalence in the population but emphasize it is not widespread. There was an outbreak earlier this year among military recruits in Texas.

Illness caused by Ad14 is like that of any other common cold infection. There is no way to distinguish an Ad14 infection from colds caused by milder viruses based on symptoms alone.

Some infections studied to date have been in people who smoke and those who have compromised immunity. But Ad14 can affect healthy people of any age.

Doctors emphasize the same precautions recommended to guard against all types of respiratory infections: frequent hand washing, refraining from rubbing your eyes after touching objects, and avoiding people who are coughing and sneezing.

Source: By Delthia Ricks, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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