According to the latest data from the Obépine observatory, 50% of coronaviruses detected in wastewater in the Ile-de-France region correspond to the strain of the British variant. Figures in line with epidemic data which reveal a slight increase in contamination in recent days.
50% of English variant in wastewater in Ile-de-France
In order to follow the evolution of the Covid-19 epidemic, the Obépine observatory tracks the virus in wastewater treatment plants. According to the latest analyzes from the observatory, 50% of coronaviruses detected in wastewater from Ile-de-France correspond to strains of the British variant. According to specialists, the proportion of the British variant has continued to increase since it was first spotted in the wastewater of Ile-de-France last January.
In an interview given to France Bleu Paris, Laurent Moulin, Head of Research and Development at the Eau de Paris laboratory, declared that the British variant represents half of the coronaviruses detected “ throughout the Ile-de-France region, with no notable difference depending on the area “. According to him, ” the proportion of this mutation has been increasing steadily for two months “. However, this does not mean that one in two people is infected with the English variant. The results of the analysis should make it possible to translate “ a trend, an idea of the evolution of the epidemic As Laurent Moulin emphasizes.
Results in line with epidemic figures
It is therefore an upward or downward trend that researchers from the Obépine network have been tracking for a few weeks in wastewater in the Paris region. For the moment, the figures agree with the data from the screening tests since in mid-February, the Cerba laboratories located in Ile-de-France already noted between 40 and 45% of British variant among all the cases observed. Likewise, Inserm had also forecast that the British variant represents more than half of the cases of Covid-19 at the beginning of March in the Ile-de-France region.
As for other variants of the coronavirus, Laurent Moulin announced that the observatory was also seeking to measure the presence of Brazilian and South African variants in wastewater. But to do this, we must use the meta-genomic method which is intended to be longer and more complex since it consists in sequencing all the ” bits of virus »Found in wastewater. According to him, the first results of the tests should be communicated from next week.
