Clinical Prevention & Treatment

Prevention of Outbreaks

To prevent healthcare-associated outbreaks of adenovirus infections, health care providers should strictly follow infection control practices, including

  • contact and droplet precautions
  • environmental cleaning with appropriate disinfectants prompt response and reporting of clusters of cases.

For suspected cases of pneumonia caused by adenovirus infection, healthcare providers should follow the guidelines for preventing healthcare-associated pneumonia. See 2007 Guideline for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings for more information.

Adenoviruses are resistant to many common disinfectants and can remain infectious for hours on environmental surfaces and medical instruments. To prevent spread of adenoviruses use an EPA-registered disinfectant on surfaces that is effective at killing adenoviruses and compatible with the surfaces and equipment. Disinfectants effective against norovirus should also be effective against adenoviruses. See EPA List G for these disinfectants.
For more information on infection prevention and disinfection, see:

New EKC Infection Control Resource

CDC’s new resource, Prevent EKC, provides guidance on how to disinfect surfaces and equipment to help prevent and control outbreaks of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) in eye clinics. EKC is a severe and highly contagious form of viral conjunctivitis (pink eye). EKC is caused by adenoviruses, which are often resistant to many disinfectants.

Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC)

Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) is a severe and highly contagious form of viral conjunctivitis (pink eye) caused by adenoviruses. CDC’s new resource, Prevent EKC, provides guidance on how to disinfect surfaces and equipment to help prevent and control outbreaks of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) in eye clinics.

Vaccination

Currently, there is no adenovirus vaccine available for the general public.

A live, oral vaccine against adenovirus types 4 and 7 is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only for U.S. military personnel ages 17 through 50 years who may be at higher risk for infection from these two adenovirus types. The vaccine is recommended by the U.S. Department of Defense for military recruits entering basic training in order to prevent acute respiratory disease. It may also be recommended for other military personnel at high risk for adenovirus infection. For more information about the vaccine, see Adenovirus Vaccine Information Statement (VIS).

Treatment

There is no specific treatment for people with adenovirus infection. Most adenovirus infections are mild and do not require any medical care. Clinical care of adenovirus infections includes treatment of symptoms and complications. There are no FDA-approved antiviral drugs for adenovirus treatment. For hospitalized people with severe adenovirus infection, consultation with infectious disease experts is recommended.