Hepatitis A infections from food

Abstract

Food contaminated by hepatitis A virus (HAV) is responsible of the 2-7% of all HAV outbreaks worldwide. This review provides a description of the HAV characteristics, its infectivity and epidemiological features. In addition, this review compiles existing original papers reporting HAV prevalence, viral titres in foodstuffs and the risk associated with food contamination. The purpose of this revision is to conduct a structured and systematic review of the published molecular procedures for HAV detection in food, including the assessment of its infectivity. based on the analysis of a 168-nucleotide segment of the VP1-2A region, HAV is classified in six genotypes. Genotypes I, II and III, have human origin and are divided into subtypes A and B, while genotypes IV, V and VI cause infections in simians (Desbois et al. 2010). Features of HAV infection The course of hepatitis A ranges from mild to severe, and is typically more severe in adults than in children (<6 years), that are often asymptomatic. Common symptoms associated with acute HAV infection are loss of appetite, fever, headache, nausea, diarrhoea, abdominal discomfort, anorexia, myalgia, dark-coloured urine and jaundice. HAV infection develops a lifelong immunity and does not result in chronic infection or chronic liver disease (Lemon et al. 2017). Adults with hepatitis A illness usually develop symptoms after a long incubation period of 14-28 days (up to 50 days) after the exposure, and a high numbers of virus particles are excreted reaching the maximum of up to 10 11 genome copies (gc) per gram of faeces just before the onset of symptoms. The fatality rate in HAV infections is lower than 0Á1%, although in elderly it may rise up to 1Á8-5Á4% (1Á8-5Á4%) (Bosch et al. 2016). Routes of transmission and epidemiology HAV is excreted in faeces and the main route of transmission is from person to person by the faecal-oral route

Occurrence and Accumulation of Human Enteric Viruses and Phages in Process Water from the Fresh Produce Industry

“…The presence of human enteric viruses in vegetables has been reported with markedly varying levels between studies [28][29][30][31][32]. Viral contamination that may be present on the product can spread throughout the production batch when the product is washed, warranting investigation about the levels of human enteric viruses in PW.…”

Insights into Gastrointestinal Virome: Etiology and Public Exposure

“…Ingestion of HAV-contaminated food accounts for 2-7% of all HAV-mediated outbreaks worldwide [217]. Epidemiological investigations provide a potential solution since they have succeeded previously in identifying the source of contamination.…”

“…For example, the prevalence of HAV severely declined over the years from 40% to <8%, according to the 20 year-systematic survey conducted on bivalve molluscan shellfish from three estuaries in Spain [220], accompanied by a reduction in HAV cases. However, the reduction in cases could be due to the increasing availability of the HA vaccine, alongside increased surveillance that can rapidly identify contaminated food [217,223].…”

Regional and Age Epidemiological Analysis of Hepatitis A Viral in China, 2004-2017

“…HAV infection is acquired primarily through the faecal-oral route, including close person-to-person contact and ingestion of food or water contaminated by the faeces of an infected person. [3] In rare cases, HAV infection may also be transmitted by receiving blood products from an infected blood donor. [4,5] According to the prevalence of HAV, it can be divided into high, medium, low and very low HAV endemic areas.…”