ABSTRACT
The adeno-associated viruses (AAV) are small, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-contaming agents that require coinfection with a helper virus for their own replication. AAV were originally discovered by electron microscopy as contaminants of laboratory stocks of tissue culture grown adenoviruses. The basic biology of AAV has been the subject of numerous studies. In vivo latent AAV infection has been discovered in primary human and monkey cell culture lots screened in the US as part of a government vaccine production evaluation program to evaluate infected cells for contamination with endogenous viruses. The epidemiology of human infection with an unconditionally defective virus, AAV, is a very interesting topic that raises several questions. The person to person transmission of AAV infection is novel in that the virus appears to travel with its helper adenovirus. Speculation has centered on possible disease manifestations related to the important features of the biology of AAV which were discussed.
