Vaccine preventable viral diseases and risks associated with waterborne transmission

Abstract

Abstract. Rotavirus and poliovirus are paradigmatic viruses for causing major diseases affecting the human population. The impact of poliovirus is remarkably diminished because of vaccination during the last half century. Poliomyelitis due to wild polio currently affects a limited number of countries, and since 2000 sporadic outbreaks have been associated to neurovirulent vaccine-derived polioviruses. Conversely, rotavirus is presently very diffuse, accounting for the largest fraction of severe gastroenteritis among children <5 years-old. Vaccination towards rotavirus is still in its dawn, and zoonotic strains contribute to the emergence and evolution of novel strains pathogenic to man. The environment, particularly surface water, is a possible vehicle for large transmission of both viruses, but environmental surveillance of circulating strains can help promptly monitor entry of new virulent strains into a country, their shedding and spread.Key words: rotavirus, poliovirus, vaccine, waterborne transmission, surveillance. Riassunto (Malattie virali prevenibili con la vaccinazione e rischi associati alla trasmissione idrica).Rotavirus e poliovirus sono virus paradigmatici nel causare malattie importanti della popolazione umana. L'impatto dei poliovirus è diminuito marcatamente durante mezzo secolo di vaccinazione. La poliomielite dovuta a polio selvaggio affligge solo un limitato numero di paesi, e dal 2000 epidemie sporadiche sono state associate a poliovirus nerurovirulenti vaccino-derivati. Al contrario, rotavirus è oggi molto diffuso, essendo implicato nella maggiore parte dei casi di gastroenterite grave nei bambini di meno di 5 anni. La vaccinazione contro i rotavirus è ancora agli albori, e ceppi zoonotici contribuiscono all'emergenza ed evoluzione di nuovi ceppi patogeni per l'uomo. L'ambiente, in particolare le acque superficiali, è un possibile veicolo per la trasmissione di entrambi i virus, ma la sorveglianza ambientale dei ceppi circolanti può aiutare a monitorare prontamente l'ingresso di nuovi ceppi virulenti in un paese, il loro rilascio e diffusione.

Detection and distribution of culturable Human Enteroviruses through environmental surveillance in Milan, Italy

“…The environmental surveillance in Milan undertaken between 2006 and 2010 showed the presence of HEVs in 80% of wastewater samples. This result is in agreement with data from other studies conducted in Italy (Cesari et al 2010;Ruggeri and Fiore 2012) and other countries (Cost an-Longares et al 2008;Kargar et al 2009). The difference in the detection frequency of the HEVs among the three sampling sites appeared to be significant only in 2006, at Nosedo, which showed a lower percentage of HEVs than the other two sites (P < 0Á01), whereas, in 2007, a statistically significant decrease (P < 0Á02) in the frequency of the total number of viral isolates occurred with respect to the other years.…”

“…Since in Italy, the full IPV Salk schedule was introduced in 2002, the isolation of PVs is presumably explained by the presence of individuals (children or adults) coming from countries where vaccination with OPV is still in use. However, there were no wild poliovirus (WPV) detections in the raw sewage samples examined, as it was to be expected in a 'polio-free' certified country; the identification of 2 PV-SLs demonstrated that the risk of virus reintroduction (wild or Sabin) is an event that is always possible due to globalization and continuous movement of the population, which creates frequent contacts with individuals from countries still using OPV vaccines or immigrants from countries where PV still is endemic (Gary et al 2007;Zurbriggen et al 2008;Ruggeri and Fiore 2012).…”

“…In Italy, the environmental surveillance of PV and other HEVs started in 2005 as a pilot study involving four cities (Patti et al 2003;Ruggeri and Fiore 2012), which was subsequently extended to nine large cities with high immigration rates located in Northern, Central and Southern Italy (Milan, Parma, Rome, Bari, Palermo, Naples, Sassari, Bolzano and Venice). The concentration and treatment of the inlet wastewaters and virological investigations are carried out in four subnational polio laboratories: University of Milan, University of Parma, University 'La Sapienza' in Rome and ARPA in Venice.…”

Sporadic Isolation of Sabin-Like Polioviruses and High-Level Detection of Non-Polio Enteroviruses during Sewage Surveillance in Seven Italian Cities, after Several Years of Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccination

“…No wild polioviruses were isolated from the environmental samples examined during the study period, supporting the epidemiological data deriving from AFP surveillance (6,7,59).…”

European Monitoring Systems and Data for Assessing Environmental and Climate Impacts on Human Infectious Diseases

“…Environmental surveillance has been widely used for the detection of disease outbreaks, in disease reduction and as indicators for early warning systems and for source attribution [180,181,182,183,184,185,186]. The institution and data source platform are summarized into the Table 3.…”