Experience with an adenovirus?

February 15, 2018 12:04 PM

I’ve been diagnosed with an adenovirus, i.e. Pharyngoconjunctival Fever, a.k.a. Boot Camp Flu, a.k.a. Japanese Swimming Pool Fever. Can’t make this stuff up. I am under medical care but does anyone have experience with an adenovirus and how long it takes to really clear up?
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

I had it one year. It was a lot like the flu but did not take as long to recover from. Four or five days.
posted by bq at 12:17 PM on February 15, 2018

My family just had this. The kid (fifteen months) was fine in two weeks. Us adults took three to really get over it, but it should be noted that during this time we were caretaking an active toddler and could not get as much rest as would have been ideal.
posted by Rush-That-Speaks at 8:01 PM on February 15, 2018

I'm pretty sure I caught one of these this year. I felt awful for about 5 days, and then sort of bleh for about 5 more. I did not take any medication. My eyes were red and runny, but I just rinsed them a lot (like splashed water into my open eyes and dried with tissue instead of a towel), and washed my eye areas frequently with soap, and the pinkeye symptoms resolved spontaneously in a couple of days.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 11:03 PM on February 15, 2018

Doctor here: aka common cold.

There are around 50 adenoviruses out there known to cause human illness, ranging from cold symptoms, conjunctivitis, and GI symptoms to more life-threatening diseases in immunocompromised folks.

It's pretty unlikely that in clinical practice that you had a test to find out specifically what bug made you ill, so your doc was probably making taking a SWAG (scientific wild-ass guess) when they diagnosed you with "adenovirus." But the good news is that the vast majority of infections are self-limited and mild.

Wash your hands and chlorinate your pools.
posted by eglenner at 11:54 PM on February 15, 2018 [2 favorites]

There are some folks in my area of New England who test negative for the flu and don't live with anyone who tested positive -- and they are being diagnosed as having adenovirus.

Miserable, like the flu or a bad cold makes you, but it doesn't respond to tamiflu. *shrug* It sucks, yes. Sorry. :7(
posted by wenestvedt at 7:51 AM on February 16, 2018