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Thessaloniki is still significantly away from leveling out the epidemiological curve, AUTh measurements with EYATH show for the concentration of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in wastewater from the urban complex.
According to the analysis of last week’s samples, the concentration of the virus genome in the sewage from Thessaloniki continues to increase rapidly, in contrast to the decrease in the number of cases, which was announced in recent days.
“At this stage of the pandemic, the findings do not surprise us. The trend continues to be upward and reflects the widespread spread of the virus in the community. When the measures taken start to bear fruit, the increase will stop exponentially in the first phase, before the trend stabilizes and reverses to a downward trend. We hope that the measurements of the next two weeks will begin to show this course “, the rector of AUTh and coordinator of the research team, Prof Nikos Papaioannou.
We must all realize that by reverently observing personal protection and social distancing measures, we help the public health system to cope with the best care for the sick while demonstrating that we want to return to our lives soon. It is a personal responsibility of each one of us and an obligation towards society as a whole, strict compliance with the measures that have been suggested by the experts ”, said the rector of AUTh.
Asked about the prospect of leveling the epidemiological curve in relation to the cases that have been announced in recent days for Thessaloniki, the professor of the Department of Chemistry and member of the AUTh research team, Theodoros Karapantsios, replied: “Measurements in waters residuals show that we are far from the flattening of the epidemiological curve. “Perhaps the difference with the decrease in reported cases is due to the fact that the viral load of symptoms has increased, or the fact that there are now a large number of cases asymptomatic, or a combination of these two cases “.
“The companies verify that the personnel do not present symptoms”
Last week, the AUTh team detected a viral load in wastewater from commercial companies with facilities in the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki.
“The AUTh team has been monitoring the wastewater of these companies for several weeks.” It is important that in one case a viral load was detected in the sewer of a company, to which no case had been reported and after detection in the sewer identified an asymptomatic worker, ”said Mr. Karapantsios.
The methodology applied by the AUTh team has the ability to determine the genomic copy number of SARS-CoV-2 with great precision even at very small concentrations in city wastewater samples.
“This is achieved by verifying the same sample with many repetitions and evaluating with analytical procedures the performance in each stage of the laboratory test, such as eg” During the compaction of the sample, the isolation of the genetic material of the virus but also the assurance of the removal of chemicals that unfortunately are found in wastewater and create serious problems in carrying out the molecular test that is applied, “said yes in APE-MPE. Professor of Molecular Microbiology at the Laboratory of Clinical Diagnostics of the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Chrysostomos Dovas.
“Molecular diagnostic tests carried out entirely in Greece”
Regarding the molecular analysis methodology followed by the AUTh team, Mr. Dovas explained: “We have integrated innovations at all stages, such as. in the methodology of isolation of viral genomic RNA, but also in terms of molecular analysis. The molecular test has a very high analytical sensitivity for detecting viruses and was recently developed as part of a research project of the AUTh Clinics Diagnostic Laboratory with the Greek company EnzyQuest, which specializes in the production of enzymes used in tests of molecular diagnostics.
“At this time we are in a happy position to use original kits that have been produced entirely in Greece for our analyzes and therefore we have the opportunity in the last two months to immediately perform the large amount of molecular tests required”, said. professor.
The methodology for evaluating coronavirus in municipal waste, developed by the AUTh team, streamlines the measurements of the concentration of the virus genome based on 24 environmental factors, which can alter the measurement results. The research involves professors from 11 different laboratories from the Departments of Medicine, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine, Biology, Civil Engineering, Space Engineering and Development of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
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