THE FIRST EPIDEMIC OF ACUTE HEMORRHAGIC CONJUNCTIVITIS DUE TO A COXSACKIEVIRUS A24 VARIANT IN OKINAWA, JAPAN, IN 1985-1986

Abstract

Epidemics of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis due to a coxsackievirus A24 variant occurred in July-November, 1985 and August-October, 1986 in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. This is the first report of an acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis epidemic due to a coxsackievirus A24 variant in Japan The epidemic involved most islands of the prefecture. The prefectural surveillance center was notified of 9,952 cases in 1985 and 6,096 cases in 1986 from three sentinel eye clinics. The neutralizing antibody-positive rate against the coxsackievirus A24 variant of the serum samples collected before and immediately after the 1985 epidemic rose from 1.0% to 8.5%. The coxsackievirus A24 variant was isolated from 48 out of 68 conjunctival swabs collected during the epidemics. The isolates were indistinguishable antigenically in the plaque reduction test from the prototype strain, EH24/70, but had a markedly distinct oligonucleotide pattern.