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Hepatitis A virus in environmental water samples from the Amazon Basin

2007; Elsevier BV; Volume: 41; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.watres.2006.11.029

1879-2448

Vanessa Salete de Paula, Leonardo Diniz‐Mendes, Lívia Melo Villar, Sérgio Luíz Bessa Luz, L.A. Silva, Maynara Santos de Jesus, N.M.V.S. da Silva, Ana Gaspar,

Salmonella and Campylobacter epidemiology

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a significant waterborne human pathogen. Of the global supply of potable water, Brazil retains 13%, of which 75% resides in the Amazon Basin. Although hepatitis A morbidity has declined progressively in Brazil as a whole, it remains high in the Amazon region. We used nested and real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) to detect and quantify the viral load in water samples from the Amazon Basin. Most samples tested positive (92%), with viral loads varying from 60 to 5500 copies /L, depending on sanitary conditions and the degree of flooding. Nested RT–PCR of the VP1-2A region detected HAV RNA in 23% of the samples. In low viral load samples, HAV was detected only with real-time RT–PCR, suggesting that this technique is useful for monitoring HAV contamination. The presence of HAV in water samples constitutes a serious public health problem.