Overview
- Clinicians, including Jefferson Health’s Eric Sachinwalla, report many recent severe sore-throat cases are consistent with adenovirus, a common virus that often rises in winter.
- Adenovirus has no approved antiviral therapy, so care is supportive with rest, fluids and over‑the‑counter medicines, and patients are urged to seek help if fever reaches about 40°C or symptoms worsen or persist beyond a few days.
- The virus is relatively hardy, can linger on surfaces, and spreads via respiratory droplets, contaminated surfaces and stool, contributing to clusters in close‑contact settings such as nurseries and military barracks.
- Symptoms range from cold‑ and flu‑like illness—sore throat, runny nose, cough and high fever—to conjunctivitis or diarrhoea, with higher risk of severe disease in the very young, elderly and immunocompromised.
- Surveillance underscores variability rather than a uniform spike, with UKHSA reporting adenovirus lab positivity in England falling from 1.7% to 1.2% in the week ending December 14.