Detecção do RNA do SARS-Cov-2 em efluente urbano: uma abordagem por RT-qPCR e meta-analítica

Abstract

The world experienced a COVID-19 pandemic for three years, with over 770 million infections and a tragic toll of more than 6.9 million deaths. In the early stages of the pandemic, global public health faced a struggle to comprehend, monitor, and contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These two studies focused on investigating virus scanning through wastewater, aiming to detect its genetic material in this context. Additionally, potential inferential factors that could impact this approach were explored, particularly emphasizing the influence of flow rate. In Study I, a meta-analysis was conducted, revealing statistically that the flow rates of sewage treatment plants serving up to 60,000 inhabitants cannot independently interfere with the detection of SARS-CoV-2, regardless of other factors. Study II involved monitoring during the peaks of the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Dois Vizinhos, located in Paraná, southern Brazil. The samples were detected using the RT-qPCR technique, targeting the ORF1ab and nucleocapsid N regions. The Study observed the detection of RNA fragments preceding the peaks of both waves, particularly highlighting the early identification of the apex of the third wave, where the virus's genetic material was identified 29 days in advance. These studies underscored that factors such as population density and the number of infections played a role in the detection process.