Use of passive samplers as sewage surveillance tool to monitor a hepatitis A outbreak at a school in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Oct 2022 – March 2023

Enteric hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections during childhood are often asymptomatic but may cause severe illness in adults. To improve public health surveillance we assessed the applicability of sewage monitoring during an HAV outbreak at a primary school.

Between October 19 and December 27, 2022, five symptomatic HAV cases were notified to the Public Health Service Amsterdam; all attended the same primary school. Passive samplers, small absorbent tools, were deployed in sewage near the school from November 14, 2022, to March 22, 2023. The absorbents were subjected to RNA extraction, HAV PCR testing, and, if positive, sequencing. PCR and sequencing were also performed on plasma and feces samples of HAV cases.

In 22 out of 88 (25%) of sewage samples, HAV RNA was detected. All HAV-RNA-positive sewage samples until 8 February 2023 were subgenotype IB, matching the strain detected in all cases. Another strain of HAV (subgenotype IA) was detected in sewage from 15 February 2023 onwards, without associated cases.

Passive sampler-based sewage monitoring is an effective method to rapidly detect HAV shedding linked to diagnosed cases. It detects unnoticed viral infections and allows monitoring of outbreaks. This suggests that passive sampler-based monitoring is a promising tool supporting the public health response during HAV and other outbreaks.