Evidence for positive selection of hepatitis A virus antigenic variants in vaccinated men-having-sex-with men patients: Implications for immunization policies.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A huge outbreak in the men-having-sex-with-men (MSM) has hit Europe during the years 2016-2018. Outbreak control has been hampered by vaccine shortages in many countries, and to minimize their impact, reduction of antigen doses has been implemented. However, these measures may have consequences on the evolution of hepatitis A virus (HAV), leading to the emergence of antigenic variants. Cases in vaccinated MSM patients have been detected in Barcelona, opening the possibility to study HAV evolution under immune pressure.

Methods

We performed deep-sequencing analysis of ten overlapping fragments covering the complete capsid coding region of HAV. A total of 14578255 reads were obtained and used for the analysis of virus evolution in vaccinated versus non-vaccinated pa

SUBMITTER: Sabria A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6354442 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature