Background: Type A hepatitis is still a considerable problem in both underdeveloped and developed countries. Why some patients progress to fulminant type A hepatitis and others do not is unclear. Aims: To determine if nucleotide differences in the genome of hepatitis A virus (HAV) are responsible for the range of clinical severities, we analysed the 5′ non-translated region (5′NTR) of the HAV g...

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is a major cause of acute hepatitis and occasionally leads to acute liver failure in both developing and developed countries. Although effective vaccines for HAV are available, the development of new antivirals against HAV may be important for the control of HAV infection in developed countries where no universal vaccination program against HAV exists, such as ...

A new isolate of hepatitis A virus (HAV), CY-145, was isolated from stool specimens obtained from cynomolgus macaques naturally infected with this agent. Sequence analysis of the capsid region of the genome indicated that this virus differed from other sequenced HAV strains by about 20% at the nucleotide level and 7% at the amino acid level. Two amino acid residues (residues 70 of VP3 and 102 o...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccination for all children at age 1 year and for high-risk adults. The vaccine is highly effective; however, protection duration is unknown. We report HAV antibody concentrations 17 years after childhood immunization, demonstrating that protective antibody levels remain and have stabilized over the past 7 years.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) disease disproportionately affects adolescents and young adults, American Indian/Alaska Native and Hispanic racial/ethnic groups, and disadvantaged populations. During 1996-2006, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) made incremental changes in hepatitis A (HepA) vaccination recommendations to increase coverage for children and persons at high risk for ...

In the present work, we aimed at determining the relationship between the hepatitis A virus (HAV) numbers in imported frozen coquina clams involved in two hepatitis outbreaks, as well as the risk for human health. Due to HAV unculturability, a standardized TaqMan real-time reverse transcription-PCR controlling the virus/nucleic acid extraction and enzyme efficiencies was employed to figure the ...

Introduction. Clinical presentation of viral hepatitis ranges from mild symptoms to fulminant hepatitis. Our aim is to describe clinical presentation and outcomes of children with viral hepatitis from the Eastern Ontario/Western Quebec regions of Canada. Methods. Retrospective chart review of children diagnosed with viral hepatitis at our institution from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 2007. ...

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is an hepatotropic human picornavirus that is associated only with acute infection. Its pathogenesis is not well understood because there are few studies in animal models using modern methodologies. We characterized HAV infections in three chimpanzees, quantifying viral RNA by quantitative RT-PCR and examining critical aspects of the innate immune response including intr...

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection constitutes a major public health problem in Brazil. The transmission of HAV is primarily by fecal-oral route so the water is an important vehicle of HAV dissemination. There is a great incidence of acute cases of hepatitis A in some areas of Brazil however the seasonal variation of these cases was not documented. The aim of this study was to determine the seas...

OBJECTIVE Although there is a large body of data on acute hepatitis A virus (HAV) worldwide, data regarding the occurrence of HAV during pregnancy is limited. It is commonly acknowledged that HAV is not associated with severe outcomes or complications during pregnancy. In contrast, there are several reported cases of vertical HAV transmission. Moreover, it has been recently reported that HAV in...