High prevalence of hepatitis A and E viruses in environmental and clinical samples from West Argentina

Environmental surveillance of water sources is important to monitoring viral hepatitis transmission in clinical settings. This study investigated the circulation of hepatitis A (HAV) and E (HEV) viruses in sewage and clinical samples from Argentina. Between 2016 and 2017, 80 raw sewage samples and 86 clinical samples (stool and serum) from suspected cases of hepatitis A and hepatitis E were obtained. HAV and HEV were tested by both real-time and nested PCR. Positive samples were sequenced for genotype determination and phylogenetic analysis. Overall, HAV was recovered in 39% of sewage samples and 61.1% of clinical samples. HEV was detected in 22.5% of sewage samples and 15.9% of clinical samples. HAV was found more frequently in sewage during the winter and in clinical samples in spring; HEV was more prevalent in sewage during summer and in clinical samples in autumn. All HAV isolates belonged to genotype IA and HEV isolates belonged to genotype 3, the most prevalent genotypes in South America. High prevalence of HAV and HEV in environmental and clinical samples in Mendoza, Argentina was observed. These findings reinforce the importance of environmental surveillance and implementation of health strategies to control the spread of HAV and HEV in developing countries.