This discovery will allow new outbreaks to be recognized and localized more quickly (there is no risk to drinking water)
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himWastewater may be an indicator of Covid-19 outbreaks. This is suggested by a study conducted in Rome and Milan by the group led by Giuseppina La Rosa of the Water Quality and Health Department of the Environment and Health Department of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità.
What does this mean? That the genetic material of the Sars-Cov-2 virus can be found in wastewater, thus allowing this type of sampling to be used as a 'spy' of the presence of an epidemic outbreak. The research, which will be published shortly, therefore gives us very good news: this discovery will allow us to recognize and circumscribe any new epidemic outbreaks more quickly.
“We selected and analyzed for the research of the virus, a group of 8 wastewater samples collected from 3 to 28 February in Milan and from 31 March to 2 April in Rome - explains La Rosa -. The presence of RNA of the new coronavirus was confirmed in 2 samples collected in the sewerage network of the western and central-eastern area of Milan ".
In the case of Rome, the same positive result was found in all the samples taken in the eastern area of the city.
"We are now extending the research to other wastewater samples from a collection network in different regions, built over the years as part of a project funded by the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CCM) of the Ministry of Health" he concludes.
No risk
“The discovery - reassures Luca Lucentini, director of the ISS Water Quality and Health Department - has no risk. The result strengthens the prospects of using sewer water control in urban centers as a non-invasive tool for early detection of the presence of infections in the population. In phase 2, surveillance can be used to indirectly monitor the circulation of the virus and highlight its possible reappearance early, thus allowing any new epidemic outbreaks to be recognized and circumscribed more quickly ".
A strategy that is already being used for other viruses, such as polio.
“Having found viral RNA, which therefore does not necessarily represent an infectious virus, in wastewater is a result that is not surprising and does not imply any risk for human health - explains Lucentini -. As highlighted in a recent document published by the Institute, the integrated water cycle, i.e. the process that includes water purification and sewage and purification systems, is certainly safe and controlled with respect to the spread of the virus responsible for COVID-19, as well as other pathogens ".
The result is associated with those of other research groups which, in the Netherlands, Massachusetts, Australia and France, have so far found traces of the virus in the drains.
Source: ISS
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