Deep-sequencing characterization of an outbreak of hepatitis A in the men-having-sex-with men group: evidence for positive selection of antigenic variants in vaccinated patients and implications for vaccination policy

Perform deep-sequencing analysis of ten overlapping fragments covering the complete capsid coding region of HAV. Evolution at the quasispecies level, in non-vaccinated and vaccinated patients, revealed significantly higher diversity in epitope-coding regions of the vaccinated group.