title: Hepatitis A virus in urban sewage from two Mediterranean countries.
abstract: Molecular methods for the detection and typing of hepatitis A virus (HAV) strains in sewage were applied to determine its distribution in Cairo and Barcelona. The study revealed the occurrence of different patterns of hepatitis A endemicity in each city. The circulating strains characterized, whether in Cairo or Barcelona, were genotype IB. The effects of a child vaccination programme and the increase in the immigrant population on the overall hepatitis A occurrence in Barcelona were evaluated. While vaccination contributed to a significant decrease in the number of clinical cases, the huge recent immigration flow has probably been responsible for the re-emergence of the disease in the last year of study, in the form of small outbreaks among the non-vaccinated population.
authors.affiliation: Enteric Virus Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pintó
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alegre
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Domínguez
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: El-Senousy
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Villena
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Costafreda
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aragonès
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bosch
mesh_terms: D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005838:Genotype; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology; D030041:Hepatitis A virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D012722:Sewage / Q000821:virology*; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage