Hepatitis A infection is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), which is transmitted through the fecal-oral route. Lifelong protective antibodies are present after infection. The number of cases of adult hepatitis A has progressively been increasing during the last several decades in Korea. In addition, the pattern of age-specific seroprevalence of anti-HAV has changed with economic growth. The...

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is shed in feces but also in saliva. HAV RNA was detected in saliva in five out of six acutely infected patients with HAV viremia. Serum and saliva sequences were identical. The simplicity of obtaining material allows the recommendation of the use of saliva for investigation of outbreaks.

Primers and a TaqMan probe for the 5'-untranslated region (UTR) of the hepatitis A virus (HAV) genome were designed and evaluated. The assay detected 0.5 infectious units of HAV and 40 copies of a synthetic transcript and provides an important screening tool for rapid quantitative HAV detection in clinical or environmental samples.

Human wild-type (wt) hepatitis A virus (HAV), the causative agent of acute hepatitis, barely grows in cell culture and in the process accumulates attenuating and cell culture-adapting mutations. This genetic instability of wt HAV in cell culture is a major roadblock to studying HAV pathogenesis and producing live vaccines that are not overly attenuated for humans. To develop a robust cell cultu...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The early diagnosis of acute hepatitis A (AHA) is hindered because serum IgM against hepatitis A virus (HAV) can yield false-negative results during the window period. This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kit for HAV RNA for the diagnosis of AHA. METHODS Samples were collected from 136 patients with acute severe hepatitis at their a...

BACKGROUND As a result of declining hepatitis A endemicity in Thailand, an increasing number of children and adolescents have become susceptible to hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection. OBJECTIVE The present study was aimed at both investigating the clinical features and determining molecular characterization of HAV during an outbreak, which occurred in a childcare center located in a suburban a...

Like enteroviruses, hepatitis A virus (HAV) hemagglutinated various species of erythrocytes under similar conditions. HAV-specific antibodies in both acute- and convalescent-phase sera were found to inhibit hemagglutination. The HAV hemagglutination inhibition test can be used for diagnosis, epidemiological surveillance, and vaccine assessment.

Immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies against hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) and hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) were determined in 41 cases of acute viral hepatitis. In sera positive for anti-HBc or anti-HAV, IgM was separated from IgG by reorienting sucrose gradient high-speed centrifugation, and the IgG- and IgM-containing serum fractions were tested for the presence of specific antibody by ra...

evidence for more than one etiologic agent has been recognized only since the 1940s, when 2 viruses [hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV)] were thought to account for all disease. In the past 20 years, 3 additional hepatitis agents [hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis D virus (HDV), and hepatitis E virus (HEV)] have been discovered, and there is evidence for at least one additiona...

OBJECTIVE To determine the seroprevalence of antibodies to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) among children in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and to evaluate the need of anti-HAV mass vaccination. METHODS This study was carried out on random samples of schools located at different regions in Jeddah, KSA during the year 2004. A total of 527 sera, (285 males and 242 fem...