Korean J Clin Pathol.  2001 Apr;21(2):114-118.

Molecular Epidemiology of an Outbreak of Hepatitis A in Korea

• Kim JS
• Kim SH

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Recently, some outbreaks of hepatitis A have been reported in Korea. Comparisons of VP1/P2A sequence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) are useful in identifying a specific strain, its genotype, and geographic distribution of HAV. We performed nested reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and direct sequencing of HAV to investigate a molecular epidemiology of an outbreak of HAV infection.
METHODS
Stool specimens collected from 24 patients during a hepatitis A epidemic were examined. Nested RT-PCR, targeting the VP1/P2A region, was performed. The RT-PCR products from six samples were sequenced to evaluate the genetic relatedness among the strains.
RESULTS
HAV RNA was detected in 16 of 24 patients with hepatitis A. All of the six tested for HAV strains showed a 100% nucleotide identity and were classified as subgenotype IA by phylogenetic analysis of the VP1/P2A region.
CONCLUSIONS
Analysis of the HAV VP1/P2A region suggested that a single HAV strain caused the outbreak. Korean HAV strains from this study belong to subgenotype IA, which is the prevalent type in the world.

Keyword

Hepatitis A; HAV; Molecular epidemiology; Outbreak; Phylogenetic analysis

MeSH Terms

Disease Outbreaks
Genotype
Hepatitis A virus
Hepatitis A*
Hepatitis*
Humans
Korea*
Molecular Epidemiology*
RNA
RNA