Nine Adenovirus (Ad) strains isolated in Cuba, from 128 nasopharingeal swab specimens of children below five years old, with acute respiratory diseases, during 1996 and 1997, were studied by restriction enzyme analysis of genomic DNA with two endonucleases BamH I and Sma I. All different fragment patterns were compared with the respective prototypes. The identified adenoviruses were Ad 1 (n=4), Ad 2 (n=1) and Ad 6 (n=4). Males were more frequently infected than females. The analysis of the occurrence of these Adenovirus strains of subgenus C revealed that Ad 1 and Ad 6 were the predominant serotypes in 1996 and in 1997, respectively.

Twenty-six human respiratory syncytial virus strains (subgroup A) isolated from three outbreaks in Havana City during the period 1994/95, 1995/96 and 1996/97 were analyzed to determine their antigenic and genetic relationships. Analyses were performed by monoclonal antibodies and restriction mapping (N gene) following amplification of the select region of the virus genome by polymerase chain reaction. All isolated strains were classified as subgroup A by monoclonal antibodies and they showed a restriction pattern NP4 that belonged to subgroup A. Thus the results obtained in this work, showed a close relation (100%) between antigenic and genetic characterization of the isolated strains in our laboratory. These methods permit the examination of large numbers of isolates by molecular techniques, simplifying the researchs into the molecular epidemiology of the virus.

The NCI-H292 continual line of mucoepidermoid cells of the human lungs has been reported to be useful for the propagation of many viruses, mainly Adenovirus and Paraxymovirus. It is stated the possible substitution of primary cultures of monkey kidney for NCI-H292 in order to isolate such agents. In the present paper it is evaluated the utility of this line for multiplying the respiratory syncytial viruses Adenovirus 3 and 7, and the parainfluenza viruses 1, 2, and 3, in comparison with the continual cellular lines traditionally used for the propagation of these viruses, whose strains were inoculated this time in the Vero, HEp-2, and HeLa lines, according to their know sensitivities as well as in NCI-H292 simultaneously. The viral multiplication was detected by the appareance of the cytopathic effect or by hemaadsorption. As a result, it was demostrated the multiplication capacity of the NCI-H292 line for Adenoviruses 3 and 7 and parainfluenza 3, being more useful for their multiplication than the tradicionally used lines.

La línea continua NCI-H292 de células mucoepidermoides de pulmón humano ha sido reportada ser de utilidad para la propagación de muchos virus, principalmente Adenovirus y Paramyxovirus. Se plantea la posible sustitución de cultivos primarios de riñón de mono por NCI-H292 para el aislamiento de dichos agentes. En el presente trabajo se evalúa la utilidad de esta nueva línea para la multiplicación de los virus sincitial respiratorio, Adenovirus 3 y 7 y los virus parainfluenza 1, 2 y 3 en comparación con las líneas celulares continuas utilizadas tradicionalmente para la propagación de éstos; para lo cual se inocularon cepas de los virus en cuestión en las líneas Vero, HEp-2 y HeLa, según sus sensibilidades conocidas, y en NCI-H292 paralelamente. La multiplicación viral se detectó por aparición de efecto citopático o por hemadsorción. Como resultado se corroboró la capacidad de multiplicación de la línea NCI-H292 para los Adenovirus 3 y 7 y el parainfluenza 3, siendo más útil para la multiplicación de éstos que las líneas tradicionalmente usadas.