A wastewater surveillance system developed by the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) to track SARS-CoV-2 will be used to track other infectious diseases like monkeypox and dengue in the future.
As members of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), CCMB and IICT developed a non-invasive mass surveillance system. Using the design, researchers accurately estimated the spread of Coronavirus in Hyderabad and elsewhere without conducting Covid tests on individuals, during the Covid pandemic.
As part of the robust wastewater surveillance model, researchers have already started tracking other infectious diseases in small and medium-sized urban centers in India (Bengaluru) and are about to start (Hyderabad), such as monkeypox, dengue, and acute microbial resistance (AMR).
Several infectious diseases, such as monkeypox, dengue, and antimicrobial resistance, have already been tracked in Bengaluru via wastewater surveillance. As soon as SARS-CoV-2 is eradicated, another infectious disease will be followed. Our goal for the next two years is to standardize or optimize wastewater surveillance models tailored to each city, including Hyderabad,” says Dr. Rakesh Kumar Mishra, AcSIR Distinguished Emeritus Professor, CCMB and Director, Tata Institute of Genetics and Society (TIGS), Bengaluru.
The Rockefeller Foundation is supporting the wastewater surveillance program, which is being adopted by numerous genetic laboratories across the nation.
At least seven to eight large, medium-sized, and small Indian metropolises, including Hyderabad, will use sewage surveillance to monitor infectious diseases. The purpose, according to Dr. Mishra, is to provide the neighborhood public health system with guidance in the event of an outbreak.
In urban centers of India, due to busy lives and work pressure, there would be numerous occasions where individuals, even if affected by a viral or parasite infection, avoid getting identified. Such behavior frequently makes it difficult for public health organizations to develop a robust response to outbreaks.
The majority of city dwellers do not visit hospitals when they are ill. They simply take a pill for fever and report to their duties. Therefore, we are unable to determine the precise extent of the infection’s dissemination. But in the case of sewage systems, whether or not people visit a hospital, the bacteria daily enter the wastewater facilities, allowing researchers to issue an early warning, says Dr. RK Mishra.
Important details
- Monitoring sewage systems can provide early disease warnings.
- Even if infected people do not get tested, the germs in their excretions reach the sewage systems the following day.
- Each city will have its own enhanced wastewater surveillance models, including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, etc.
- Sewage monitoring will aid in the detection of influenza, polio, dengue, viral encephalitis, monkeypox, AMR, and Nipah.
- Using this system, monitor, track, and screen for infectious diseases
- Monitoring sewage data trends that will be utilized to evaluate community trends
(This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed, agencies. Raavi Media accepts no responsibility or liability for the text’s dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content at its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.)