Title: Early detection of Covid-19 by wastewater sampling

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a concept in which wastewater can be utilized as an indicator to understand the presence and scale of infection. WBE can provide an alarming and early indication about the presence of COVID-19 infected individuals in a city, town, and even in a housing complex. Current data on SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses suggest that wastewater-based epidemiology is a viable addition to the assessment and mitigation of viral outbreaks.The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater may predict COVID-19 occurrence qualitatively and quantitatively. Few articles reported a correlation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration in wastewater with the number of COVID-19 cases, whereas few reported higher prediction by wastewater surveillance than confirmed cases. The application of WBE is still in a preliminary stage but has the potential to indicate an early sign of transmission.The commonly adopted disinfection technologies in inactivating SARS-CoV-2 in municipal and hospital wastewater is required to reduce the risk associated with municipal and hospital wastewater. Applicability of WBE in terms of detection limit by several PCR-based assays and they observed presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater even when the number of cases per 100,000 was below 1. Therefore, the monitoring through WBE can provide an early indication of emergence of COVID-19. It was observed 10 out of 66 wastewater samples as positive collected from toilets, showers, and wash.

Biography

Associate Professor at Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Over 30 years of research and teaching in BS, MS, PhD courses. Over 100 research project and about 600 published papers.