Why get vaccinated?

Adenovirus vaccine can prevent infection with some types of adenovirus.

Adenoviruses can cause illness that is usually mild, but can be serious in some cases. People with weakened immune systems, or existing lung or heart disease, are at higher risk of developing severe illness from an adenovirus infection.

Adenovirus infection can cause:

Common cold or flu-like symptoms

Fever

Sore throat

Acute bronchitis (inflammation of the airways of the lungs, sometimes called a “chest cold”)

Pneumonia (infection of the lungs)

Diarrhea

Conjunctivitis (pink eye)

Infection with adenovirus can also rarely lead to more serious problems, such as severe pneumonia or neurologic disease (conditions that affect the brain and spinal cord), and even death. Some people who are infected may have to be hospitalized.

Adenoviruses are usually spread from an infected person to others through close personal contact such as touching or shaking hands, through the air by coughing and sneezing, or through handling objects that an infected person has touched. Some adenoviruses can spread through an infected person’s stool, for example, during diaper changing. Adenovirus can also spread through the water, such as in swimming pools, but this is less common.

Certain adenovirus types (including Type 4 and Type 7) have caused severe outbreaks of respiratory illness among military recruits.