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Review
. 2022 Oct 15:843:156724.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156724. Epub 2022 Jun 15.

Surveillance of omicron variants through wastewater epidemiology: Latest developments in environmental monitoring of pandemic

Vatika Soni  1 , Shilpa Paital  1 , Pankaj Raizada  1 , Tansir Ahamad  2 , Aftab Aslam Parwaz Khan  3 , Sourbh Thakur  4 , Pardeep Singh  5 , Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain  6 , Swati Sharma  7 , Ashok Kumar Nadda  8
Affiliations
Review

Surveillance of omicron variants through wastewater epidemiology: Latest developments in environmental monitoring of pandemic

Vatika Soni et al. Sci Total Environ. .

Abstract

WBE has been a monitoring system that can give purposeful and inclusive real-time assessments of civic society as well as environmental health. This concept review introduces WBE as a surveillance scheme and initial warning outbreaks of contagious diseases caused by harmful SARS-CoV-2 with pandemic potential. Examining biomarkers of contagious diseases as evidence in polluted water taken from wastewater treatment plants suggests that these systems can be examined to get epidemiological data for checking the transmission of infectious B.1.1.529 to different areas. Thereafter, various benefits of surveillance are provided to analyse health information and pinpoint different problems that may be occurring in the workstation. Surveillance is followed by intervention steps that improved the work environment and prevent further progression of the disease. This information will help to improve early detection strategies, designing a prevention strategy to reduce their spread, infection control and therapies, thus, strengthening our global preparedness to fight future epidemics. In the end, a comprehensive discussion on the remaining challenges and opportunities for epidemiology has been given for future research perspectives.

Keywords: COVID-19; Early warning; Human health risks; Infectious disease; SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529; Surveillance; Transmission; Variant of concern; Virus; Wastewater epidemiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest All authors declare no conflict interest.

Figures

Unlabelled Image
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Transmutation profiles of the α, β, γ, δ, and B.1.1.529 variant of concerns considered by the world health organization.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
(a). Global percentage share of Omicron variant, reprinted with ref. Sharma et al. (2022) (order number-501726026), Copyright Wiley 2022, (b) several SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 variant cases in the Asia-pacific region till March 29, 2022, based on different countries. The data in the bar graph is used from the source available at https://www.statista.com/statistics/1287427/apac-number-omicron-variant-by-country/#professional.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Regular confirmed VOC-22JAN-01 (BA.2) sequences constituting S-genomic diversity with no amino acids positioned at 69 or 70 along with specimen dates.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Supplementary concepts