title: Molecular detection of human astrovirus in an urban sewage treatment plant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and dissemination of human astroviruses (HAstV) in the environment by analyzing urban sewage samples from a wastewater treatment plant in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A one-year study was performed with a total of 48 raw and treated sewage composite samples, which were collected biweekly from an activated sludge plant. Virus particles were concentrated by the adsorption-elution method using negatively charged membranes associated to a Centriprep Concentrator 50 (Nihon Millipore). HAstV were detected in 16.7% of the samples in raw and treated sewage by using both qualitative and quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR and qPCR, respectively). Positive untreated sewage sample exhibited mean values of 1.1 x 10(4) gEq/mL. The qPCR sensitivity was 18 gEq/reaction. Through utilization of qPCR, a HAstV recovery efficiency of 4.2% and 4.3% was demonstrated for raw and treated sewage samples, respectively. The presence of HAstV in both the raw and treated sewage samples demonstrated the dissemination of these viruses in the environment as well as viral permanence after sewage treatment. There was a reduction in the total and faecal coliform levels, indicating efficiency of the wastewater treatment plant.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Virologia Comparada, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Pavilhão Hélio & Peggy Pereira, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
authors.forename: Flávia Ramos
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.forename: Fabiana Fioretti Martins
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Carmen Baur
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Tulio Machado
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Fumian
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shubo
authors.forename: José Paulo Gagliardi
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: Marize Pereira
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Miagostovich
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D001257:Mamastrovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012722:Sewage / Q000821:virology*; D014505:Urban Population; D014871:Water Microbiology; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D012722:Sewage