Sewage analysis is a useful approach for surveillance of human astrovirus genotypes co-circulating in the local population, especially when clinical data is limited.
Multiple HAstV genotypes in all sewage samples indicate endemic circulation; extends limited Chinese data but leaves clinical implications open.
AIMS: To determine the molecular epidemiology of classic human astrovirus (HAstVs) in sewage and supplement limited clinical data in China. METHODS AND RESULTS: Classic HAstVs in domestic sewage in Shandong Province, eastern China in 2014 were analysed in a total of 23 sewage samples. After viral concentration, reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR), cloning and sequencing, all samples were positive for classic HAstVs and 115 sequences were obtained, belonging to five different genotypes (HAstV-1,-2, -3, -4 and -5). Of these, HAstV-4 (31·3%, 36/115), -5 (24·3%, 28/115) were detected with higher rates than HAstV-1 (21·7%, 25/115), followed by HAstV-2 (17·4%, 20/115) and -3 (5·2%, 6/115). High identities were observed within all genotypes in 2014. Interestingly, recombination events were identified at a high frequency (12·2%, 14/115), and variable combinations were obtained. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that multiple HAstVs genotypes co-circulated with high prevalence in local population during surveillance period. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The results demonstrate that sewage analysis is a useful approach in surveillance HAstVs in the context of limited clinical data.
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Zhou et al. (2016) studied this question.
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