ABSTRACT
Background: Human group A rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhea among children <5 years of age worldwide. Rotaviruses are widely present in environmental water. The aim of this study was to detect the human group A rotaviruses in urban sewage, hospital sewage and river water samples in Alborz province using ELISA method
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 76 samples collected from both influent and effluent water of 4 sewage treatment systems, hospital sewage, Karaj and Baraghan rivers in Alborz province. All samples were concentrated using pellet method. Afterwards, human group A rotaviruses were detected using ELISA method
Results: In total, rotaviruses were identified in 6 samples [7.89 percent] using ELISA method. Three positive samples [50 percent] were related to the raw sewage influent and three positive samples [50 percent] were related to the Karaj river. The frequency of rotavirus detection in summer, autumn and winter was 1 sample [16.66 percent], 3 samples [50 percent] and 2 samples [33.33 percent], respectively
Conclusion: This study showed the contamination of environmental water by human group A rotaviruses. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly monitor sewage treatment systems and river water for detecting rotaviruses