Abstract Title
The Prevalence of Human Sapovirus in Alberta, Canada from 2018-2024
Presenter
Judy Qiu, Alberta Public Health Laboratory/University of Alberta
Co-Author(s)
Judy Y. Qiu1,2, Xiaoli Pang2, Graham Tipples1,2
1 Public Health Laboratory, Alberta Precision Laboratory, Edmonton, AB, Canada
2 Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Abstract Category
Epidemology
Abstract
Belonging to the same Caliciviridae family as norovirus, human sapovirus (SaV) has been increasingly recognized as a common cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE), especially in young children. Currently, there is limited epidemiological data on SaV worldwide. Alberta Public Health Laboratory implemented gastroenteritis viruses panel (GVP) testing a decade ago. Here, we assessed the prevalence of SaV in Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pre- and post-pandemic period using clinical data from 2018 to 2024.
Stool specimens submitted from acute care patients, immunocompromised patients, community patients < 6-years-old, and outbreak investigations with AGE in Alberta were tested for GVP including SaV using qPCR. Clinical Data from 2018 - 2024 were extracted from the laboratory information system and analyzed from July to June of the following year defined as annual.
The total and positive samples of SaV are showed in Table 1. The positivity rate of SaV ranged from 1.6% to 3.8% except during the pandemic in 2020-2021, when SaV showed a very low detection rate of 0.13%. 53% of the positive cases were from patients under 5-years-old, and 22% of the cases were co-infected with other gastroenteritis viruses. SaV had the highest detection rate in December with a positivity rate of 13.6%. A total of 11 SaV-associated outbreaks were identified with 5 of them from daycare. Overall, continuous circulation of SaV in the general population occurs in both sporadic and outbreak settings. The prevalence of SaV significantly decreased during the pandemic, indicating that public health interventions for COVID-19 also reduced the transmission of SaV.
Table 1. Stool samples tested for SaV from 2018 to 2024
Year (July – June)Sample tested, nSaV positive sample, nPositivity rate (%)
2018 - 2019 3124 66 2.11
2019 - 2020 3286 53 1.61
2020 - 2021 3067 4 0.13
2021 - 2022 3582 62 1.73
2022 - 2023 4226 160 3.79
2023 - 2024 6210 180 2.91
Total 23495 525 2.23
Stool specimens submitted from acute care patients, immunocompromised patients, community patients < 6-years-old, and outbreak investigations with AGE in Alberta were tested for GVP including SaV using qPCR. Clinical Data from 2018 - 2024 were extracted from the laboratory information system and analyzed from July to June of the following year defined as annual.
The total and positive samples of SaV are showed in Table 1. The positivity rate of SaV ranged from 1.6% to 3.8% except during the pandemic in 2020-2021, when SaV showed a very low detection rate of 0.13%. 53% of the positive cases were from patients under 5-years-old, and 22% of the cases were co-infected with other gastroenteritis viruses. SaV had the highest detection rate in December with a positivity rate of 13.6%. A total of 11 SaV-associated outbreaks were identified with 5 of them from daycare. Overall, continuous circulation of SaV in the general population occurs in both sporadic and outbreak settings. The prevalence of SaV significantly decreased during the pandemic, indicating that public health interventions for COVID-19 also reduced the transmission of SaV.
Table 1. Stool samples tested for SaV from 2018 to 2024
Year (July – June)Sample tested, nSaV positive sample, nPositivity rate (%)
2018 - 2019 3124 66 2.11
2019 - 2020 3286 53 1.61
2020 - 2021 3067 4 0.13
2021 - 2022 3582 62 1.73
2022 - 2023 4226 160 3.79
2023 - 2024 6210 180 2.91
Total 23495 525 2.23