Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a common infection that is transmitted through the fecal-oral route, shed in the stool of infected individuals, and spread either by direct contact or by ingesting contaminated food or water. Each year, approximately 1.4 million acute cases are reported globally with a major risk factor for exposure being low household socioeconomic status. Recent trends show a decrease in anti-HAV antibodies in the general population, with concomitant increases in the numbers of HAV outbreaks. In line with a recreational water study, this effort aims to assess the prevalence of salivary IgG antibodies against HAV and subsequent incident infections (or immunoconversions) in visitors to a tropical beach impacted by a publicly owned treatment works (POTW). We applied a multiplex immunoassay to serially collected saliva samples gathered from study participants who recreated at Boquerón Beach, Puerto Rico. Analysis of assay results revealed an immunoprevalence rate of 16.17% for HAV with 1.43% of the cohort immunoconverting to HAV. Among those who immunoconverted, 10% reported chronic gastrointestinal symptoms and none experienced diarrhea. Tests on water samples indicated good water quality with low levels of fecal indicator bacteria; however, the collection and analysis of saliva samples afforded the ability to detect HAV infections in beachgoers. This rapid assay serves as a cost-effective tool for examining exposure to environmental pathogens and can provide critical information to policy makers, water quality experts, and risk assessment professionals seeking to improve and protect recreational water and public health.

中文翻译：

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甲型肝炎的唾液IgG快速抗体筛选。

甲型肝炎病毒（HAV）是一种常见的感染，它通过粪便-口腔途径传播，流到被感染者的粪便中，并通过直接接触或摄入被污染的食物或水传播。每年全球报告约140万例急性病例，其暴露的主要风险因素是家庭社会经济地位低下。最近的趋势表明，一般人群中抗HAV抗体的减少，伴随着HAV爆发数量的增加。与娱乐性水研究相一致，这项工作旨在评估在受公共处理厂（POTW）影响的热带海滩游客中，抗HAV唾液IgG抗体的流行以及随后的事件感染（或免疫转化）。我们对从波多黎各Boquerón海滩重现的研究参与者收集的唾液样本进行了连续免疫分析。分析结果的分析表明，HAV的免疫患病率为16.17％，而队列免疫转换为HAV的人群为1.43％。在那些进行了免疫转化的人中，有10％的人报告了慢性胃肠道症状，没有人出现腹泻。对水样的测试表明水质良好，粪便指示菌含量低；然而，唾液样本的收集和分析提供了检测泳客中HAV感染的能力。这种快速测定法可作为一种经济有效的工具，用于检查环境病原体的暴露情况，并可为政策制定者，水质专家，