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In Argentina, circulation of hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 has been described, producing sporadic cases of acute and chronic hepatitis. Limited information is available regarding HEV infection in children, so we aimed to investigate this virus in a pediatric population from the country. Serum samples from Argentine children (0-18 years old) (n = 213) were studied for IgG anti-HEV, IgM anti-HEV and RNA-HEV: 202 samples belonged to individuals attending health-care centers for routine check-ups, and 11 samples from patients with acute hepatitis of unknown etiology. Seropositivity for IgG anti-HEV was 1.49 % (3/202). One sample from an 18-years-old female patient with acute hepatitis tested positive for IgM anti-HEV detection, negative for IgG anti-HEV and RNA-HEV, but also positive for IgM anti-EBV. The HEV prevalence was low and showed circulation among children in central Argentina.
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Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging cause of viral hepatitis and pigs are considered a reservoir for the virus. HEV genotype 3 (HEV-3) has been reported in pigs, environmental matrices, and sporadic human cases in Argentina. We aimed to investigate HEV circulation in pigs from central Argentina and to assess the virus presence in pork meat and food products. Four types of samples obtained or derived from pigs collected in Córdoba province (Argentina) between 2019 and 2022, were tested: 276 serum samples were analyzed for anti-HEV antibody detection; stool (n = 20), pork meat (n = 71), and salami (n = 76) samples were studied for RNA-HEV detection, followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. The positivity rate for anti-HEV antibodies was 80.1% (221/276). Eleven fecal samples (11/20) tested positive for RNA-HEV, from animals under 120 days of age. Three samples could be sequenced, and phylogenetic analyses revealed that they belonged to HEV-3 clade abchijklm, clustering close to strains previously detected in wastewater from Córdoba. None of the muscle meat or salami samples tested positive. A high HEV circulation in pigs was found, showing that these animals may play a significant role in the viral maintenance in the region, becoming a potential risk to the exposed population. Despite not detecting RNA-HEV in pork meat and salami in our study, we cannot rule out the possibility of foodborne transmission in Córdoba province.
Assuntos
Vírus da Hepatite E , Hepatite E , Produtos da Carne , Carne de Porco , Carne Vermelha , Doenças dos Suínos , Humanos , Animais , Suínos , Vírus da Hepatite E/genética , Hepatite E/epidemiologia , Hepatite E/veterinária , Carne Vermelha/análise , Argentina/epidemiologia , Filogenia , Carne/análise , Anticorpos Anti-Hepatite , RNA Viral/genética , RNA Viral/análise , Doenças dos Suínos/epidemiologiaAssuntos
Vírus da Hepatite E , Viroses , Humanos , Vírus da Hepatite E/genética , Doadores de Sangue , Vírus da Hepatite B , RNA ViralRESUMO
Climate change affects the interactions between water systems, ecosystems, and the atmosphere. It also increases the risk of the presence of microorganisms which affect the systems that use these resources. The impact of the population on the water resources has become more evident in recent years, highlighting the close relationship between the levels of inorganic components and microbiological contamination of water and community health. The characterization of the variables that account for water pollution is a complex process. In this paper, it is proposed to quantified nitrites and phosphorous as chemical markers and fecal coliforms, genomic human adenovirus and/or picobirnavirus and infectious human enterovirus detection as microbiological markers for the prevention of water-borne infections in individuals exposed to superficial aqueous matrices by recreational activities.
El cambio climático afecta a las interacciones entre los sistemas hídricos, los ecosistemas y la atmósfera. También aumenta el riesgo de la presencia de microorganismos que afectan a los sistemas que utilizan estos recursos. El impacto de la población sobre los recursos hídricos se ha hecho más evidente en los últimos años, destacando la estrecha relación entre los niveles de componentes inorgánicos así como la contaminación microbiológica del agua y la salud de la comunidad. La caracterización de las variables que dan cuenta de la contaminación del agua es un proceso complejo. En este trabajo se propone la cuantificación de nitritos y fósforo como marcadores químicos y la detección de coliformes fecales, adenovirus humanos genómicos y/o picobirnavirus y enterovirus humanos infecciosos como marcadores microbiológicos para la prevención de infecciones de origen hídrico en individuos expuestos a matrices acuosas superficiales por actividades recreativas.
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BACKGROUND: The hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes acute hepatitis, which can progress to chronicity in immunosuppressed patients. It is transmitted mainly by the fecal-oral or zoonotic routes, but there is current evidence that it can be transmitted by blood transfusions. The objective of the study was to investigate HEV infections in blood donors in Argentina, within the framework of a hemovigilance program. METHODS: A total of 547 samples from Argentinean blood donors, collected in 2016, 2019 and 2020 was studied for IgG and IgM anti-HEV by ELISA (Diapro) and RNA HEV by RT-real time PCR and RT-Nested-PCR. RESULTS: The prevalence of IgG anti-HEV was 3.47% (19/547). No significant differences were registered according to the year studied, sex or age. The presence of RNA HEV was observed in 0.18% (1/547) of the donors studied without serological evidence of infection. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first molecular detection in blood donors from Argentina, showing a molecular prevalence within the range described for RNA-HEV in blood donors from other non-endemic countries, in which immunocompetent RNA-HEV positive donors without serological evidence of infection were identified. The presence of viraemic donors could imply transfusion transmission, which deserves further attention and study.
Assuntos
Vírus da Hepatite E , Hepatite E , Argentina/epidemiologia , Doadores de Sangue , Hepatite E/epidemiologia , Vírus da Hepatite E/genética , Humanos , Imunoglobulina G , Imunoglobulina M , RNA , RNA Viral/genética , Estudos SoroepidemiológicosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: The current COVID-19 pandemic has overloaded the diagnostic capacity of laboratories by the gold standard method rRT-PCR. This disease has a high spread rate and almost a quarter of infected individuals never develop symptoms. In this scenario, active surveillance is crucial to stop the virus propagation. METHODS: Between July 2020 and April 2021, 11,580 oropharyngeal swab samples collected in closed and semi-closed institutions were processed for SARS-CoV-2 detection in pools, implementing this strategy for the first time in Córdoba, Argentina. Five-sample pools were constituted before nucleic acid extraction and amplification by rRT-PCR. Comparative analysis of cycle threshold (Ct) values from positive pools and individual samples along with a cost-benefit report of the whole performance of the results was performed. RESULTS: From 2,314 5-sample pools tested, 158 were classified as positive (6.8%), 2,024 as negative (87.5%), and 132 were categorized as indeterminate (5.7%). The Ct value shift due to sample dilution showed an increase in Ct of 2.6±1.53 cycles for N gene and 2.6±1.78 for ORF1ab gene. Overall, 290 pools were disassembled and 1,450 swabs were analyzed individually. This strategy allowed correctly identifying 99.8% of the samples as positive (7.6%) or negative (92.2%), avoiding the execution of 7,806 rRT-PCR reactions which represents a cost saving of 67.5%. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the feasibility of pooling samples to increase the number of tests performed, helping to maximize molecular diagnostic resources and reducing the work overload of specialized personnel during active surveillance of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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COVID-19 , Pandemias , COVID-19/diagnóstico , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Humanos , RNA Viral/genética , SARS-CoV-2/genética , Sensibilidade e Especificidade , Manejo de Espécimes/métodos , Conduta ExpectanteRESUMO
BACKGROUND: The hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been described as a causing factor for acute-on-chronic-liver-failure (ACLF) in patients with underlying chronic liver disease (CLD), such as chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis, which could end in the failure of one or more organs and high short-term mortality. There are scarce data about the association of HEV in patients with chronic liver disorders in South America. CASE PRESENTATION: A 56-year-old hypertensive male with a history of type 2 diabetes was diagnosed with alcohol-related-liver cirrhosis in February 2019. A year later, the patient was admitted to hospital due to fatigue, jaundice and acholia. No evidence of hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, Epstein-Barr virus, herpes zoster virus and cytomegalovirus infections were found. Nevertheless, in February and March, 2020 the patient was positive for HEV-IgM and HEV-IgG, and HEV genotype 3 RNA was detected in sera. Afterwards, he presented grade I hepatic encephalopathy and, therefore, was diagnosed with acute hepatitis E-on-chronic liver disease. The patient reported a recent travel to the Argentine coast, where he consumed seafood. Besides, he reveled to have consumed pork meat and had no history of blood transfusion. CONCLUSION: This report describes a unique case of hepatitis E virus infection in a patient with alcohol-related cirrhosis. This is the first report of a patient with HEV-related ACLF in Argentina and it invokes the importance of HEV surveillance and treatment among patients with CLD, such as alcohol-related cirrhosis.