Genetic relatedness of hepatitis A virus isolates during a community‐wide outbreak

In 1993-94, a community-wide outbreak of hepatitis A occurred in Stanislaus County, California. Stool specimens collected from a sample of 33 case patients were used to evaluate the duration of hepatitis A virus (HAV) excretion and the genetic relatedness of HAV isolates. Twenty-four percent of the patients had a stool sample positive for HAV antigen by enzyme immunoassay, whereas 91% had at least one stool positive for HAV RNA by RT-PCR amplification. Children were found to excrete low levels of HAV RNA for up to 10 weeks after the onset of symptoms. Analysis of the HAV VP1 amino terminus and VP1/P2A regions showed that a limited number of HAV isolates circulated during the epidemic and the majority of the cases were infected with the same strain. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.