Surveillance of hepatitis A virus in urban sewages and comparison with cases notified in the course of an outbreak, Italy 2013

Abstract

The percentage of sewage samples detected as HAV-positive in this study are consistent with the classification of Italy as a country with low/intermediate endemicity. A combined environmental/clinical surveillance is able to provide a more complete picture of the spread of HAV and of the genotypes circulating in the population, allowing a better understanding of changes in disease trends.