Article ID: JJID.2018.148
Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a common infectious etiology of acute hepatitis worldwide. The Philippines remains highly endemic for hepatitis A, but there is still lack of information about HAV in the Philippines. To understand the contamination of environment water with HAV in the Philippines, we performed detection and genetic analyses of HAV RNA using samples from the river water. A total of 12 water samples were collected at six sampling sites of three rivers in both dry and wet seasons in Metro Manila in 2012 to 2013. The HAV RNA was detected from all six samples collected in the dry season and from one sample in the wet season. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed that the HAV strains detected in the river water included multiple HAV sequences belonging to subgenotype IA and IIIA, indicating that at least two genotypes of the HAV strains are circulating in environment in the Philippines, posing a risk of HAV infection to not only residents but also tourists, especially in the dry season.
