Multiple infections with hepatitis A virus and development of rheumatoid arthritis among waste water treatment plant workers

Introduction: In the present work, we studied the association between multiple exposure of waste water treatment plant workers to infection with existing hepatitis A virus in waste water and development of rheumatoid arthritis, taking in consideration number of working years as an indicator for fre...

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Main Authors: Dina Nadeem Abd-Elshafy, Hala Zaki Raslan, Rola Nadeem, Mona Abd-ElKader Awad, Said Shalaby, Mahmoud Mohamed Bahgat
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2022-01-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/15053
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author Dina Nadeem Abd-Elshafy
Hala Zaki Raslan
Rola Nadeem
Mona Abd-ElKader Awad
Said Shalaby
Mahmoud Mohamed Bahgat
author_facet Dina Nadeem Abd-Elshafy
Hala Zaki Raslan
Rola Nadeem
Mona Abd-ElKader Awad
Said Shalaby
Mahmoud Mohamed Bahgat
author_sort Dina Nadeem Abd-Elshafy
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: In the present work, we studied the association between multiple exposure of waste water treatment plant workers to infection with existing hepatitis A virus in waste water and development of rheumatoid arthritis, taking in consideration number of working years as an indicator for frequency of exposure to infection, compared to non waste water treatment plant workers. Methodology: A total of 105 waste water treatment plant workers and 48 NWWTPWs were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were positivity for HBV and/or HCV IgG, negativity to HAV IgG and suffering from rheumatic diseases other than rheumatoid arthritis. Results: 96.2% of waste water treatment plant workers were anti-HAV-IgG positive, of whom 5 had high antibody titer indicating ongoing infection and were anti-HAV-IgM negative excluding primary infection. These 5 samples were further subjected to quantification of liver enzymes, glutamate oxaloacetate trasaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase and HAV-RT-PCR to check viremia and results showed increase of glutamate oxaloacetate trasaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase as well as viremea in all of them. Rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis was carried out by detection of C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated protein. Rheumatoid arthritis development was 19% in the waste water treatment plant workers with >10 working years and 8% for < 10 working years. Also, disease development started earlier (Age 30-40 years) among the waste water treatment plant workers compared to non waste water treatment plant workers (age: 40-50 years). Conclusions: Multiple exposures of waste water treatment plant workers to HAV might be one of the etiological stimuli of rheumatoid arthritis.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1972-2680
language English
publishDate 2022-01-01
publisher The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
record_format Article
series Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
spelling doaj-art-af45a2c09c6a431aa6797a466c09b23a2025-08-20T03:52:43ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802022-01-01160110.3855/jidc.15053Multiple infections with hepatitis A virus and development of rheumatoid arthritis among waste water treatment plant workersDina Nadeem Abd-Elshafy0Hala Zaki Raslan1Rola Nadeem2Mona Abd-ElKader Awad3Said Shalaby4Mahmoud Mohamed Bahgat5Environmental Virology Laboratory, Department of Water Pollution Research, Division of Environmental Research, the National Research Centre, Giza, EgyptDepartment of Internal Medicine, Medical Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, EgyptResearch Group Immune- and Bio-markers for Infection, the Centre of Excellent for Advanced Science, the National Research Centre,Giza, EgyptDepartment of Chemical and Clinical Pathology, Medical Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, EgyptDepartment of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Medical Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, EgyptResearch Group Immune- and Bio-markers for Infection, the Centre of Excellent for Advanced Science, the National Research Centre,Giza, Egypt Introduction: In the present work, we studied the association between multiple exposure of waste water treatment plant workers to infection with existing hepatitis A virus in waste water and development of rheumatoid arthritis, taking in consideration number of working years as an indicator for frequency of exposure to infection, compared to non waste water treatment plant workers. Methodology: A total of 105 waste water treatment plant workers and 48 NWWTPWs were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were positivity for HBV and/or HCV IgG, negativity to HAV IgG and suffering from rheumatic diseases other than rheumatoid arthritis. Results: 96.2% of waste water treatment plant workers were anti-HAV-IgG positive, of whom 5 had high antibody titer indicating ongoing infection and were anti-HAV-IgM negative excluding primary infection. These 5 samples were further subjected to quantification of liver enzymes, glutamate oxaloacetate trasaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase and HAV-RT-PCR to check viremia and results showed increase of glutamate oxaloacetate trasaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase as well as viremea in all of them. Rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis was carried out by detection of C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated protein. Rheumatoid arthritis development was 19% in the waste water treatment plant workers with >10 working years and 8% for < 10 working years. Also, disease development started earlier (Age 30-40 years) among the waste water treatment plant workers compared to non waste water treatment plant workers (age: 40-50 years). Conclusions: Multiple exposures of waste water treatment plant workers to HAV might be one of the etiological stimuli of rheumatoid arthritis. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/15053Waste water treatment plant workersHAV infectionIgMIgGRT-PCRRheumatoid arthritis
spellingShingle Dina Nadeem Abd-Elshafy
Hala Zaki Raslan
Rola Nadeem
Mona Abd-ElKader Awad
Said Shalaby
Mahmoud Mohamed Bahgat
Multiple infections with hepatitis A virus and development of rheumatoid arthritis among waste water treatment plant workers
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Waste water treatment plant workers
HAV infection
IgM
IgG
RT-PCR
Rheumatoid arthritis
title Multiple infections with hepatitis A virus and development of rheumatoid arthritis among waste water treatment plant workers
title_full Multiple infections with hepatitis A virus and development of rheumatoid arthritis among waste water treatment plant workers
title_fullStr Multiple infections with hepatitis A virus and development of rheumatoid arthritis among waste water treatment plant workers
title_full_unstemmed Multiple infections with hepatitis A virus and development of rheumatoid arthritis among waste water treatment plant workers
title_short Multiple infections with hepatitis A virus and development of rheumatoid arthritis among waste water treatment plant workers
title_sort multiple infections with hepatitis a virus and development of rheumatoid arthritis among waste water treatment plant workers
topic Waste water treatment plant workers
HAV infection
IgM
IgG
RT-PCR
Rheumatoid arthritis
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/15053
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