Coronavirus Found in Wastewaters: What Does it Mean for the Pandemic
And how wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) prevents potential outbreaks.
The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, causes gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal pain, about 10% of the time. The reason is that SARS-CoV-2 can infect gastrointestinal cells that express high levels of ACE2 receptor. It makes sense that SARS-CoV-2 would shed through the feces as well, which is true. As follows, the next question is: Might wastewaters be a source of Covid-19 transmission?
Persistent and infectious SARS-CoV-2 in feces
The prevalence of fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical settings is about 50–80%, according to a research review of Masaaki Kitajima, an assistant professor specializing in water microbiology at the University of Tokyo.
A few studies have detected infectious, active SARS-CoV-2 in fecal samples that are culturable (the act of infecting cells with viruses) in the lab. One study, however, failed to culture SARS-CoV-2 isolated from feces of Covid-19 patients, which implies inactive viruses. Nonetheless, a negative finding does not negate other studies that have found infectious SARS-CoV-2 in feces.
Feces could be a…
