Vigilância ambiental de Sars-cov-2 em matrizes ambientais na região da Grande Vitória – ES
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Data
2025-02-21
Autores
Costa, Gizely Azevedo
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Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo
Resumo
The discovery of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the etiological agent of COVID-19 marked the year 2020. The rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus led to the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020. The world faced one of the greatest public health challenges due to the high transmission rate of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the large number of asymptomatic individuals transmitting the virus. Due to mild or no symptoms, many asymptomatic individuals were not included in traditional clinical data, which led to underreporting of cases and made it difficult to assess the true spread of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 was identified in environmental matrices, including sewage, which allowed the adoption of complementary strategies for monitoring the spread of SARS-CoV-2, making the use of complementary tools such as downstream wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), and a viable alternative capable of predicting early outbreaks and providing reliable data. This study aimed to analyze the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in environmental samples of raw sewage and sludge, correlating viral load data (CG/L) with cases of COVID-19 reported by the health department in the Greater Vitória region - ES, Brazil. The study methodology consisted of collecting sewage and sludge samples from different locations: group (a) sewage treatment plants (STPs) and three urban surface channels, between January 2021 and February 2022, and group (b) sludge from an upflow anaerobic reactor (UASB) at ETE Araçás, in Vila Velha/ES, between October 2023 and August 2024. To detect viral RNA, the concentration method proposed by Katayama et al. (2002) was used, followed by RNA extraction and RT-qPCR. The results demonstrated high positivity in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in all matrices: 87.2% (75/86) in urban channels, 85.3% (70/82) in STPs and 80% in UASB sludge samples. Viral RNA concentrations ranged from 1.59 x 10⁴ to 2.56 x 10⁴ GC/L in urban channels and from 7.79 x 10³ to 1.26 x 10⁴ GC/L in STPs. A moderate to strong correlation was identified between viral load and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the populations served by the canal basin and STPs monitored in Greater Vitória/ES, with the highest values found in urban channels (Channel 1: r = 0.58; Channel 2: r = 0.78; Channel 3: r = 0.86). This study was one of the pioneers in establishing the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in different matrices, raw sewage and sludge, in the Greater Vitória/ES region. Urban surface channels showed higher viral concentration and better correlation with epidemiological data compared to STPs, standing out as alternative and viable points for monitoring SARS-CoV-2, especially in regions with poor sanitation. Additionally, the high detection of viral RNA in sludge reaffirms its potential as a complementary tool in tracking viral spread in wastewater treatment environments.
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Canais superficiais urbanos , Estação de tratamento de esgoto , Epidemiologia baseada no esgoto