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- Author Affiliations
1. 1Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 4-7-1 Gakuen, Musashimurayama-shi, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan 2. 2Fukuoka Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences, Mukaizano 39, Dazaifu-shi, Fukuoka 818-0135, JapanEnvironmental virus surveillance was conducted at two independent sewage plants from urban and rural areas in the northern prefecture of the Kyushu district, Japan, to trace the polioviruses (PVs) within communities. Consequently, 83 PVs were isolated over a 34-month period from April 2010 to January 2013. The frequency of PV isolation at the urban plant was 1.5-times higher than that at the rural plant. Molecular sequence analysis of the viral VP1 gene identified all three serotypes among the PV isolates the most prevalent serotype being type 2 (46%). Nearly all poliovirus isolates exhibited more than one nucleotide mutation from the Sabin vaccine strains. During this study, inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) was introduced for routine immunization on September 1, 2012, replacing the live oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). Interestingly, the frequency of PV isolation from sewage waters declined before OPV cessation at both sites. Our study highlights the importance of environmental surveillance to detect the excretion of PVs from an OPV-immunized population in a highly sensitive manner, during the OPV to IPV transition period.
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Accepted manuscript posted online 2 January 2015, doi: 10.1128/AEM.03575-14 AEM.03575-14