Wastewater monitWastewater monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 gene for COVID-19 epidemiological surveillance in Tucumán, Argentina

D´ARPINO, MC; SINELI, PE; GOROSO, G.; WATANABE, W.; SAAVEDRA, L.; HEBERT, EM; MARTINEZ, M.A.; MIGLIAVACCA, J; GERSTENFELD, S; CHAHLA, R; BELLOMIO, A.; ALBARRACÍN V. H.

JOURNAL OF BASIC MICROBIOLOGY

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH

Lugar: Weinheim; Año: 2024

0233-111X

Wastewater-based epidemiology provides temporal and spatial information about the health status of a population. The objective of this study was to analyze and report the epidemiological dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the province ofTucumán, Argentina during the second and third waves of COVID-19 coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) between April 2021 and March 2022. The study aimed to quantify SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater, correlating it with clinically reported COVID-19 cases. Wastewater samples (n(n=72)were collected from 16 sampling points located in 3 three cities of Tucumán (San Miguel de Tucumán, Yerba Buena y Banda del Río Salí). Detection of viral nucleocapsid markers (N1 gene) was carried out using one-step RT-qPCR. reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR). Viral loads were determined for each positive sample using a standard curve. A positive correlation (p