Soil Sciences Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Soil Sciences Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia; Department of Soils and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut, 71526, Egypt.
J Environ Manage. 2021 Nov 15;298:113486. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113486. Epub 2021 Aug 10.
Millions of human pathogenic viral particles are shed from infected individuals and introduce into wastewater, subsequently causing waterborne diseases worldwide. These viruses can be transmitted from wastewater to human beings via direct contact and/or ingestion/inhalation of aerosols. Even the advanced wastewater treatment technologies are unable to remove pathogenic viruses from wastewater completely, posing a serious health risk. Recently, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been urged globally due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has resulted in >4.1 million deaths until July 2021. A rapid human-to-human transmission, uncertainties in effective vaccines, non-specific medical treatments, and unclear symptoms compelled the world into complete lockdown, social distancing, air-travel suspension, and closure of educational institutions, subsequently damaging the global economy and trade. Although, few medical treatments, rapid detection tools, and vaccines have been developed so far to curb the spread of COVID-19; however, several uncertainties exist in their applicability. Further, the acceptance of vaccines among communities is lower owing to the fear of side effects such as blood-clotting and heart inflammation. SARS-CoV-2, an etiologic agent of COVID-19, has frequently been detected in wastewater, depicting a potential transmission risk to healthy individuals. Contrarily, the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater can be used as an early outbreak detection tool via water-based epidemiology. Therefore, the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through fecal-oral pathway can be reduced and any possible outbreak can be evaded by proper wastewater surveillance. In this review, wastewater recycling complications, potential health risks of COVID-19 emergence, and current epidemiological measures to control COVID-19 spread have been discussed. Moreover, the viability of SARS-CoV-2 in various environments and survival in wastewater has been reviewed. Additionally, the necessary actions (vaccination, face mask, social distancing, and hand sanitization) to limit the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 have been recommended. Therefore, wastewater surveillance can serve as a feasible, efficient, and reliable epidemiological measure to lessen the spread of COVID-19.
数以百万计的人病原体病毒颗粒从感染个体中释放出来，并进入废水，随后在全球范围内引发了水传播疾病。这些病毒可以通过直接接触和/或吸入气溶胶从废水传播到人类。即使是先进的废水处理技术也无法完全从废水中去除病原体病毒，这构成了严重的健康风险。最近，由于严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2），全球范围内都在迫切需要应对 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19），截至 2021 年 7 月，这导致了超过 410 万人死亡。病毒的快速人际传播、有效疫苗的不确定性、非特异性医疗治疗和不明确的症状迫使全球完全封锁、保持社交距离、暂停航空旅行和关闭教育机构，从而损害了全球经济和贸易。尽管迄今为止已经开发了一些医疗治疗、快速检测工具和疫苗来遏制 COVID-19 的传播，但它们的适用性仍存在一些不确定性。此外，由于担心副作用（如血栓形成和心肌炎），社区对疫苗的接受程度较低。SARS-CoV-2 是 COVID-19 的病原体，经常在废水中检测到，这表明对健康个体存在潜在的传播风险。相反，通过基于水的流行病学，可以将废水中 SARS-CoV-2 的出现用作早期爆发检测工具。因此，通过适当的废水监测，可以减少 SARS-CoV-2 通过粪口途径的传播，并避免任何可能的爆发。在这篇综述中，讨论了废水回收的复杂性、COVID-19 出现的潜在健康风险，以及当前控制 COVID-19 传播的流行病学措施。此外，还回顾了 SARS-CoV-2 在各种环境中的生存能力和在废水中的生存能力。此外，还建议了限制 SARS-CoV-2 传播的必要措施（接种疫苗、戴口罩、保持社交距离和手部消毒）。因此，废水监测可以作为一种可行、高效和可靠的流行病学措施，以减少 COVID-19 的传播。
