D. De Medici et al., Detecting the presence of infectious hepatitis A virus in molluscs positive to RT-nested-PCR, LETT APPL M, 33(5), 2001, pp. 362-366
Aims: The objective of this study was to determine the presence of infectio
us hepatitis A virus (HAV) in molluscs naturally contaminated with viral HA
V-RNA.
Methods and Results: One hundred and forty-two mollusc samples were analyse
d for the presence of viral HAV-RNA using RT-nested-PCR; positive samples w
ere then analysed with an integrated method, cell-culture RT-PCR, to detect
infectious virus. Viral HAV-RNA was detected in 34.5% of the samples while
12.7% of the total samples were positive for the presence of infectious vi
rus.
Conclusions: The results demonstrate the validity of the screening method (
RT-nested-PCR) and the necessity of applying a method that is capable of de
tecting the presence of infectious HAV.
Significance and Impact of the Study: The study demonstrates that in any ca
se, to determine the safety for human consumption, the results of RT-nested
-PCR must be confirmed with an integrated cell-culture PCR method.