• Investigating Hepatitis E Virus genome in Tehran’s Hospital Wastewater
  • Kimia Mahboubian,1,* Seyed Masoud Hosseini,2 Shabnam Kazemian,3 Amir Sadeghi,4 Mohammad Reza Zali,5 Seyed Reza Mohebbi,6
    1. 1Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2Department of Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnolog
    2. Department of Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
    3. Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
    5. Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
    6. Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran


  • Introduction: Hepatitis E is a member of Hepeviridae family and is one of the leading causes of acute viral hepatitis worldwide. The virus is mainly transmitted through contaminated water, food, and meat products from infected animals. Although many infections remain asymptomatic, hepatitis E can also cause chronic disease and severe complications, with high mortality, especially in pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals. Increasing reports of hepatitis E cases in recent years highlight its importance as a public health concern. Studies have also shown that wastewater and surface waters may serve as potential sources of contamination, allowing the virus to circulate between humans, animals, and the environment. Therefore, wastewater-based investigations can provide valuable information about the spread of HEV in the community. The aim of this study was to investigate hepatitis E virus genome in wastewater samples of a hospital in Tehran.
  • Methods: In this study, four wastewater samples were collected from a single hospital in Tehran over different seasons throughout one year. The samples were concentrated, viral RNA was extracted, and cDNA was synthesized. Detection of the hepatitis E virus genome was performed using two different methods: a nested PCR based on RdRP region and also a real-time PCR based on ORF2/ORF3 overlapping region of the viral genome.
  • Results: Four wastewater samples from the hospital were tested for the presence of the hepatitis E virus genome, and none of them were positive. Although no virus was detected, these findings provide a useful reference for future monitoring of HEV in hospital wastewater.
  • Conclusion: In this study, four wastewater samples collected from different seasons over the course of one year from a hospital in Tehran were tested for the presence of hepatitis E virus. No positive samples were detected, proposing a lack of any outbreak during these seasons or a possibly effective performance of the hospital’s wastewater treatment system. Further surveys with extended sampling from various locations and a longer period of sampling time are recommended.
  • Keywords: Hepatitis E, hospital wastewater, public health, conventional PCR