Molecular detection of human adenovirus in urban wastewater in Egypt and among children suffering from acute gastroenteritis

Abstract

Incidence of enteric viruses in sewage, the efficacy of wastewater treatment plants to remove these viruses, and health effects from their release into the surface water are very important environmental issues in the microbiology field. One of the most pathogenic enteric viruses is adenovirus which can cause a serious disease such as gastroenteritis with low grade fever and mild dehydration in humans. In this study we performed qualitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of HAdV on 60 stool samples from children with acute gastroenteritis admitted to Abu-Rish hospital and 96 environmental samples (32 raw sewage, 32 treated sewage, 32 sewage sludge) collected from Zenin wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). HAdV were detected in 17 (28.3%) of stool, 27 (84.4%) of raw sewage, 16 (50%) of treated sewage and 25 (78%) of sludge samples. The viral concentrations were in the range of 2.02 × 106–7.23 × 106, 8.7 × 105–4.3 × 106, 1.22 × 104–3.7 × 106 and 1.48 × 106–1.77 × 107 GC/mL in stool, raw sewage, treated sewage, and sludge, respectively. HAdV was detected throughout the whole year of sample collection. Moreover, our results suggested that males were more susceptible to adenovirus infections than females. The results indicate that the high incidence of HAdV in the treated sewage may cause adverse health effects. This article has been made Open Access thanks to the generous support of a global network of libraries as part of the Knowledge Unlatched Select initiative.

Human Adenovirus Molecular Characterization in Various Water Environments and Seasonal Impacts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“…Moreover, higher HAdV prevalence was detected at lower temperatures in autumn and winter, in agreement with previous findings [ 42 , 43 ]. However, Wang et al [ 44 ] recorded higher HAdV prevalence in summer and spring than autumn, similar to a previous study conducted in China that reported a higher prevalence in summer [ 45 ].…”

Occurrence of Human Enteric Viruses in Water Sources and Shellfish: A Focus on Africa

“…This review testifies to the extent of the problem on the African continent by reviewing over 100 investigations conducted in 13 African countries in which the occurrence (Onosi et al 2020) of enteric viruses was described in a wide range of samples including not only raw sewage but also groundwater, open water sources, bivalve shellfish and, alarmingly, drinking water. While many of these studies are limited to simple molecular detection of specific viruses in selected samples a few go further to describe the quantification, prevalence and links to disease outbreaks (see for example: El-Senousy et al 2015Elmahdy et al 2019;Okubo et al 2019).…”

Detection and identification of potentially infectious gastrointestinal and respiratory viruses at workplaces of wastewater treatment plants with viability qPCR/RT-qPCR

“…People suffering from viral infections can excrete 10 5 –10 13 viral particles per gram of stool. These viruses can persist in the environment for long periods, resulting in their high levels in fecal effluents 4 – 6 . The degree of wastewater contamination depends on the prevalence of viral infections and characteristics of viruses circulating in a given population 7 .…”