Detecção do vírus SARS-COV-2 em rio urbano de João Pessoa/PB – Brasil

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has mobilized researchers around the world in the search for knowledge about the disease, however, many aspects related to how the virus spreads in the environment remain unknown. SARS-CoV-2 has the respiratory tract as its main form of transmission, through droplets expelled by a contaminated person and contact routes, since droplets can deposit on surfaces with which other people may have contact. The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via the fecal-oral route lacks robust evidence and remains debatable, however, the presence of genetic material in wastewater can be used in community mapping of cases. Given the precariousness of the sanitary sewage system, as well as the treatment of wastewater before its release into water bodies, the present work proposes to evaluate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the Jaguaribe River in João Pessoa - PB and its relationship with its water quality. Water samples from the Jaguaribe River were collected in two periods of the year at 10 points to detect and quantify the genetic material of the virus and carry out physicochemical and bacteriological analyses. Epidemiological data were collected by the COVID-19 Panel Platform of the Municipal Government of João Pessoa-PB, which provides daily updated information. Data related to basic sanitation were collected from SNIS (2019) and IBGE (2010), and other socio-environmental data related to the neighborhoods covered in the study were collected from IBGE (2010). At some collection points, the socio environmental conditions found were the presence of substandard housing on the banks of the Jaguaribe River, and the dumping of effluents and solid waste in its bed. In relation to the first collection, the water samples from 30% of the points subjected to the detection of SARS-CoV 2, showed positive results, as well as in 60% of the points of the second collection. In the correlation of these results with the socioeconomic data, it was identified that neighborhoods with worse socio-environmental indicators are more prone to the presence of the genetic material of the virus in the water. Although some parameters were within the standards established in the legislation, in the physicochemical and bacteriological analyses, the results pointed to a degradation of the environmental quality.