Laboratory detection of hepatitis A virus in stools.

The serum sample and serial stool specimens of an adult patient suffering from Hepatitis A were tested for serological markers of acute hepatitis by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique and presence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) by various methods namely, solid phase radioimmunoassay (SPRIA) and molecular hybridisation utilizating c DNA recombinant technique. In addition stools from 2 owl monkeys experimentally infected with HAV were also studied by similar methods. The stool samples from the patient revealed an irregular shedding of HAV upto 3 weeks after the onset of jaundice as detected by SPRIA and molecular hybridisation techniques. In the light of present work and other reported studies, the stools of a patient of hepatitis A should be considered infectious to other persons upto 3—4 weeks after the onset tionary measures adopted (JPMA 38: 96, 1988).