Sustained Viremia and High Viral Load in Respiratory Tract Secretions Are Predictors for Death in Immunocompetent Adults with Adenovirus Pneumonia

The predictors for fatal adenovirus (AdV) pneumonia among immunocompetent adults are unclear. Laboratory-confirmed, hospitalized AdV pneumonia adults were prospectively enrolled in Beijing Chao-Yang hospital from March to June 2013. Clinical data and serial whole blood and respiratory tract secretions from such patients were collected. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to quantify the viral load. A total of 14 AdV pneumonia cases were consecutively enrolled, and four of them were fatal. Ten cases were caused by AdV-55, three by AdV-7 and one by AdV-3. There were no differences in age, gender or underlying diseases between the patients in the fatal cases and surviving cases. At admission (on day 5–7 after illness onset), the patients in fatal cases presented higher initial viral loads in respiratory tract secretions (8.578 ± 2.115 vs 6.263 ± 1.225 Log(10) copies/ml, p = 0.023). All patients in fatal cases presented with viremia on day 12–14 (100% vs 66.7%, p = 0.017). A higher initial viral load in the respiratory tract and sustained viremia (more than 2 weeks) may be predictors for fatal clinical outcomes.