The presence of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in wastewater could make it possible to assess the evolution of the circulation of the virus in populations.
- Traces of coronavirus were found in Paris wastewater
- Analysis of the evolution of these traces could provide information on the proportion of the population contaminated
The detection of the coronavirus in wastewater could be an opportunity to monitor the evolution of its circulation. Wastewater corresponds, as recalled The Conversation, to all water from dwellings and urban public facilities (hospitals, schools, etc.) as well as certain industries (if they do not require specific treatment). This water is then sent to treatment plants to be treated and discharged into the environment.
The enrichment of wastewater in coronavirus due to carriers with little or no symptoms
The presence of the virus in undrinkable water was discovered by the publication of a Dutch study in the journal MedRxiv. This demonstrated that the coronavirus genome can be detected in several wastewater sampling sites just days after the identification of the first human case of Covid-19 in this country. A study confirmed in France by analysis of three wastewater sampling sites in Île-de-France. It also found that the quantities of viral genomes detected in wastewater are increasing in line with the number of hospitalizations linked to Covid-19 at the regional level. More recently, results on the analysis of this water have shown a very significant reduction in the viral load in wastewater, an expected consequence of containment measures on the circulation of the virus.
The continuous analysis of this wastewater can therefore make it possible to monitor the evolution of the coronavirus, in particular because the enrichment of wastewater with coronavirus is due to carriers with little or no symptoms. The regular and systematic search for the virus on these samples could make it possible to carry out an essential and complementary monitoring of epidemiological approaches in human beings. This strategy could be implemented in an integrated epidemic control plan, notes The Conversation. It could in particular be deployed as a priority in regions – in France and abroad – in which the prevalence of the virus is still very low (few cases reported) or even zero, in addition to epidemiological studies carried out in populations.
Potential use in the future
This monitoring can provide a means of controlling the evolution of the situation with a view to deconfinement and the fear of a second wave of contamination that could follow. This could make it possible to follow the circulation of the virus in the country and to see if it has reached regions that have not yet been affected. Eventually, add The Conversation“the current situation and ongoing research underline the urgency of a national wastewater monitoring network, the benefit of which could be assessed during the monitoring of the current epidemic and more generally in the monitoring of all germs with faecal circulation — winter gastroenteritis virus, multidrug-resistant bacteria, etc..”
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