A simplified approach to monitoring the COVID-19 epidemiologic situation using waste water analysis and its application in Russia

Abstract

The number of registered cases of COVID-19 is increasing in the world, and some countries are reporting a second wave of the pandemic. Accurate and real time information about epidemiological situation is therefore urgently needed for managing decisions in the countries, regions and municipalities which are affected. Massive testing of viral presence in human saliva, a smear from the nose, nasopharynx and / or oropharynx, bronchial lavage water obtained by fibrobronchoscopy (bronchoalveolar lavage), as well as from (endo) tracheal, nasopharyngeal aspirate, sputum, biopsy or autopsy material of the lungs, whole blood, serum or antibodies presence in blood cannot give relevant information about the COVID-19 infection rate in the community since simultaneous testing of the whole community is not technically possible, the information obtained in testing of specific groups is retarded and, in addition, such testing is expensive. The alternative to mass testing of the population is the testing of wastewater that could contain SARS-CoV-2 particles originating from excreta. Such testing has several limitations connected with the particularities of the testing procedure. In the present study, a modified approach for detection of COVID-19 infection rate using wastewater analysis has been developed. The approach includes i) the creation of a calibration curve on the basis of the serial dilution of excreta collected from people who are infected with COVID-19 and ii) the analysis of wastewater samples and their serial dilutions but the approach excludes usage of concentration techniques before wastewater sample analysis as well as usage of external control in RT-PCR reactions for calculation of numbers of viral particles. The minimum infection rate that can be detected using this approach is 0.01%. The approach developed was used to investigate wastewater from eleven sewage inspection chambers in the city of Kazan (Russia). It was demonstrated that the average infection rate of people using these sewers was over 0.4% in July 2020.

The effects of COVID-19 on the water sector

“…The RNA of SARS-CoV-2 was detected also in the surface water in Ecuador (Guerrero-Latorre et al, 2020) and rivers from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (Secretaria Estadual de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul, 2020). The level of viral particles was higher in July than the level in March in the city of Kazan, similar to registered results in the city, but the average sickness rate was higher than the registered one (Kuryntseva et al, 2020). Therefore, wastewater plays a key role in the pandemic that must not be underestimated.…”

Preparing for COVID-2x: Urban Planning Needs to Regard Urological Wastewater as an Invaluable Communal Public Health Asset and Not as a Burden

“…This changed dramatically in February 2020 when COVID-19 had been declared a pandemic. Since then, the sewage testing for fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 has been successfully deployed and proven in value as an early detection tool and employed by public health authorities throughout Europe including Belgium [64], England [65], France [66], Germany [67], Hungary [68], Italy [69], the Netherlands [70], Russia [71], Spain [72,73], Switzerland [74], and Turkey [75,76], The same technique was also employed in other parts of the globe such as Hong Kong [77], Israel [78,79], India [80], Pakistan [81], Saudi Arabia [82], Brazil [83,84], Chile [85], Mexico [86], the USA [87,88] and Australia [89,90].…”

The Urban Water Cycle as a Planning Tool to Monitor SARS-CoV-2: A Review of the Literature

“…Gonzales et al [152], Curtis at al. [156], Kuryntseva et al [123], Fangaro et al [59], Betancourt et al [161] and Colosi et al [155], among others, have proposed epidemiological models and analyses of growth rates according to the study area and temporalities. These proposed models and methodologies have made it possible to understand the continuity, behaviour and growth of the virus in a given population [56,193,194].…”