ABSTRACT
As a result of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, water bodies connected to anthropogenic activities may likely reveal the presence of viral genetic material. Urban, periurban and rural water bodies in and around Hyderabad, Telangana, India, were monitored for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 gene fragments during the first and second wave of COVID-19 infection. The SARS-CoV-2 genes were not detected in peri-urban and rural lakes, whereas urban lakes having direct functional attributes from domestic activity showed prevalence. Distinct variability in viral load observed among five water bodies was in concordance with human activity in the catchment area. High viral load was observed during the peaks of the first and second waves, specifically in urban lakes. [ FROM AUTHOR]
ABSTRACT
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is emerging as a potential approach to study the infection dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 at a community level. Periodic sewage surveillance can act as an indicative tool to predict the early surge of pandemic within the community and understand the dynamics of infection and, thereby, facilitates for proper healthcare management. In this study, we performed a long-term epidemiological surveillance to assess the SARS-CoV-2 spread in domestic sewage over one year (July 2020 to August 2021) by adopting longitudinal sampling to represent a selected community (~2.5 lakhs population). Results indicated temporal dynamics in the viral load. A consistent amount of viral load was observed during the months from July 2020 to November 2020, suggesting a higher spread of the viral infection among the community, followed by a decrease in the subsequent two months (December 2020 and January 2021). A marginal increase was observed during February 2021, hinting at the onset of the second wave (from March 2021) that reached it speak in April 2021. Dynamics of the community infection rates were calculated based on the viral gene copies to assess the severity of COVID-19 spread. With the ability to predict the infection spread, longitudinal WBE studies also offer the prospect of zoning specific areas based on the infection rates. Zoning of the selected community based on the infection rates assists health management to plan and manage the infection in an effective way. WBE promotes clinical inspection with simultaneous disease detection and management, in addition to an advance warning signal to anticipate outbreaks, with respect to the slated community/zones, to tackle, prepare for and manage the pandemic.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Wastewater , COVID-19/epidemiology , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , Sewage , Wastewater-Based Epidemiological MonitoringABSTRACT
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.eti.2021.101696.].
ABSTRACT
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is having a devastating effect on human lives. Recent reports have shown that majority of the individuals recovered from COVID-19 have serious health complications, which is going to be a huge economic burden globally. Given the wide-spread transmission of SARS-CoV-2 it is almost impossible to test every individual in densely populated countries. Recent reports have shown that sewage-based surveillance can be used as holistic approach to understand the spread of the pandemic within a population or area. Here we have estimated the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the city of Hyderabad, India, which is a home for nearly 10 million people. The sewage samples were collected from all the major sewage treatment plants (STPs) and were processed for detecting the viral genome using the standard Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method. Interestingly, inlet samples of STPs were positive for SARS-CoV-2, while the outlets were negative, which indicates that the standard sewage treatment methods are efficient in eliminating the SARS-CoV-2 viral particles. Based on the detected viral gene copies per litre and viral particle shedding per individual, the total number of individuals exposed to SARS-CoV-2 was estimated. Through this study we suggest that sewage-based surveillance is an effective approach to study the infection dynamics, which helps in efficient management of the SARS-CoV-2 spread.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Cities , Humans , India , WastewaterABSTRACT
Since COVID-19 outbreak, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) studies as surveillance system is becoming an emerging interest due to its functional advantage as a tool for early warning signal and to catalyze effective disease management strategies based on the community diagnosis. An attempt was made in this study to define and establish a methodological approach for conducting WBE studies in the framework of identifying/selection of surveillance sites, standardizing sampling policy, designing sampling protocols to improve sensitivity, adopting safety protocol, and interpreting the data. Data from hourly sampling indicated a peak in the viral RNA during the morning hours (6-9 am) when the all the domestic activities are maximum. The daily sampling and processing revealed the dynamic nature of infection spread among the population. The two sampling methods viz. grab, and composite showed a good correlation. Overall, this study establishes a structured protocol for performing WBE studies that could provide useful insights on the spread of the pandemic at a given point of time. Moreover, this framework could be extrapolated to monitor several other clinically relevant diseases. Following these guidelines, it is possible to achieve measurable and reliable SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in wastewater infrastructure and therefore, provides a methodological basis for the establishment of a national surveillance system.
ABSTRACT
The unprecedented global spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by SARS-CoV-2 is depicting the distressing pandemic consequence on human health, economy as well as ecosystem services. So far novel coronavirus (CoV) outbreaks were associated with SARS-CoV-2 (2019), middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV, 2012), and SARS-CoV-1 (2003) events. CoV relates to the enveloped family of Betacoronavirus (ßCoV) with positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA). Knowing well the persistence, transmission, and spread of SARS-CoV-2 through proximity, the faecal-oral route is now emerging as a major environmental concern to community transmission. The replication and persistence of CoV in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and shedding through stools is indicating a potential transmission route to the environment settings. Despite of the evidence, based on fewer reports on SARS-CoV-2 occurrence and persistence in wastewater/sewage/water, the transmission of the infective virus to the community is yet to be established. In this realm, this communication attempted to review the possible influx route of the enteric enveloped viral transmission in the environmental settings with reference to its occurrence, persistence, detection, and inactivation based on the published literature so far. The possibilities of airborne transmission through enteric virus-laden aerosols, environmental factors that may influence the viral transmission, and disinfection methods (conventional and emerging) as well as the inactivation mechanism with reference to the enveloped virus were reviewed. The need for wastewater epidemiology (WBE) studies for surveillance as well as for early warning signal was elaborated. This communication will provide a basis to understand the SARS-CoV-2 as well as other viruses in the context of the environmental engineering perspective to design effective strategies to counter the enteric virus transmission and also serves as a working paper for researchers, policy makers and regulators.