Clinical features, treatment and outcomes of an outbreak of type 7 adenovirus pneumonia in centralized residence young adults

•For HAdV-B7 pneumonia in young adults, the most common symptoms were fever (50, 96.2%), cough (49, 94.2%), and expectoration (48, 92.3%).•For HAdV-B7 pneumonia in young adults, the predominant abnormal patterns seen on chest CT were unilateral (33, 66%), multifocal (36, 72%), and ground-glass opacity (27, 54%). As the disease progressed, the prevalence of ground-glass opacity began to decrease (66.7% vs 21.4%), and mixed patterns became more frequent (27.8% vs 71.4%).•This study did not show a benefit of ribavirin and glucocorticoid use in young patients with HAdV-B7 pneumonia. Human adenovirus type B7 (HAdV-B7) has been reported to cause pneumonia. However, there are limited data about the epidemiological and clinical features of HAdV-B7 pneumonia in young adults. This retrospective observational study included 52 patients diagnosed of human adenovirus B7 pneumonia in Nanjing, China from February 7, 2016, to February 20, 2016. We retrospectively collected and analyzed clinical, laboratory, and radiologic features, treatments and outcomes. The median age of the 52 patients was 19.5 years (IQR 18.0–21.0). The most common symptoms were fever (50, 96.2%), cough (49, 94.2%), and expectoration (48, 92.3%). Most of the routine hematology and blood chemistry parameters were within the normal range. The predominant abnormal patterns seen on chest CT were unilateral (33, 66%), multifocal (36, 72%), and ground-glass opacity (27, 54%), mainly involving the left lower lobes (41 [36.0%] of 114 affected segments). As the disease progressed in the second week after symptom onset, consolidation and mixed patterns became more common, while the ground glass opacity pattern decreased. The single-agent ribavirin therapy group had a significantly shorter duration of nonrespiratory symptoms, and no statistically significant difference was observed between the single-agent methylprednisolone group and the nonglucocorticoid group. The main symptoms in immunocompetent patients with adenovirus type 7 are fever, cough and sputum, with no significant abnormalities in laboratory tests. Chest CT scan mostly shows a ground-glass opacity at the beginning of the disease, which subsequently changes to a mixed pattern. Ribavirin and glucocorticoids did not shorten the course of disease.