Adenoviruses produce cytopathic changes in their host cells. These changes include rounding, enlargement and aggregation. The virus can transform non-permissive cells poorly. Clinically, disease can be transmitted by droplet transfer from an infected person via the respiratory route. This affects infants and children and is difficult to distinguish from influenza, or the common cold.
Most children become sero-positive before entering school.
Other non-respiratory syndromes include conjunctivitis and gastroenteritis. Sensitized cytotoxic T-cells kill infected host cells, eliminating virus before antibody production. In tissue culture, viruses resist the activities of interferon, but some susceptibility in vivo has been observed. Infections occur frequently in children less than 6 years old. Disease predominates in winter, spread is from person to person and most outbreaks are not epidemic.