This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Nainan, O. V. Articles by Margolis, H. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Nainan, O. V. Articles by Margolis, H. S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, January 2006, p. 63-79, Vol. 19, No. 1
0893-8512/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CMR.19.1.63-79.2006

Diagnosis of Hepatitis A Virus Infection: a Molecular Approach

Omana V. Nainan,^1, Guoliang Xia,^1* Gilberto Vaughan,^1,2 and Harold S. Margolis^1,3

Division of Viral Hepatitis, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333,¹ Institute of Diagnosis and Epidemiologic References, Mexico City 11340, Mexico,² Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative, International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Korea³

Current serologic tests provide the foundation for diagnosis of hepatitis A and hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection. Recent advances in methods to identify and characterize nucleic acid markers of viral infections have provided the foundation for the field of molecular epidemiology and increased our knowledge of the molecular biology and epidemiology of HAV. Although HAV is primarily shed in feces, there is a strong viremic phase during infection which has allowed easy access to virus isolates and the use of molecular markers to determine their genetic relatedness. Molecular epidemiologic studies have provided new information on the types and extent of HAV infection and transmission in the United States. In addition, these new diagnostic methods have provided tools for the rapid detection of food-borne HAV transmission and identification of the potential source of the food contamination.

Deceased.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Tallon, L. A., Love, D. C., Moore, Z. S., Sobsey, M. D. (2008). Recovery and Sequence Analysis of Hepatitis A Virus from Springwater Implicated in an Outbreak of Acute Viral Hepatitis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 6158-6160 [Abstract] [Full Text]