Abstract
The project of wastewater surveillance for SAR-CoV-2 in provinces that have comfirmed COVID-19 cases was conducted by Division of Communicable Diseases, Department of Disease Control. The objectives of this project were to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and to characterize the relationship between the presences of SARS-CoV-2 genetic materials and the number of infected cases in the particular areas. The result could elucidate the correlation between degree of SARS-CoV-2 genetic materials and the number of COVID-19 patients in the community. Moreover, our result could be useful for disease surveillance and monitoring programs, conducive to setting appropriate measures and policies in controlling this kind of virus effectively in the future. From May to December 2021, a total of 248 of wastewater samples was collected from 11 places, including markets, apartments, universities, and prisons, located in the COVID-19 outbreak areas, Bangkok and Samut Sakhon. The real time RT-PCR technique was used for SARS-CoV-2 detection. The results showed that 118 samples were detected from 10 places, related to the number of infected cases. Moreover, variant of COVID-19 was also analyzed. Based on our results, we suggest that the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater can be used for COVID-19 monitoring and for integrating with other disease investigation practices in the community. Since individual detection of COVID-19 infection is limited, wastewater analysis could be considered one of the sensitive and cost-effective strategies. Routine implementation of this surveillance tool together with personal hygiene practices and social distancing would significantly improve our preparedness against new or re-occurring viral outbreaks.
