Molecular characterization of adenovirus detected from fecal samples obtained from children in the Central West region of Brazil.

The adenoviruses are frequently associated with sporadic gastroenteritis outbreaks in different parts of the world. This study aimed at the molecular characterization of human adenoviruses (HAdV) species and serotypes, in fecal samples from children, by multiplex-PCR and by PCR-RFLP, respectively, followed by genomic sequencing. Of 39 adenovirus-positive samples, 30 (76.9%) were classified as species F, six (15.4%) as species C, and two (5.1%) as species A, and one (2.6%) had a mixed F/C pattern. The serotyping showed that 14 (41.2%) were HAdV-41, 15 (44.1%) were HAdV-40, five (14.7%) were HAdV-5, and five samples could not be serotyped. This is the first study to molecularly characterize HAdV in the Central West region of Brazil, and the results highlight the circulation of the HAdV-5 among children with acute gastroenteritis in this region.