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Detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants in hospital wastewater in Peru, 2022
Author(s)
Galarza- Pérez, Marco
Instituto Nacional de Salud
Espinoza-Culupu, Abraham
National University of San Marcos
Ramirez-Melgar, Jorge L.
National University of San Marcos
Chambi-Quispe, Mario
Gutiérrez Ajalcriña, Rosmery
Sucñer Cruz, Víctor
López Chegne, Segundo Nicolas
Santillán Ruiz, Diana
Segura Chavez, Luis Felipe
Sias Garay, Cinthia Esther
Salazar‐Granara, Alberto
Universidad de San Martín de Porres
Tsukayama Cisneros, Pablo
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
Tapia‐Paniagua, Silvana
Universidad de Málaga
González-Domenech, Carmen María
Universidad de Málaga
Date Issued
21 de junio de 2024
Type
Article
Volume
41
Issue
2
Series/Report No.
Revista Peruana de Medicina Experimental y Salud Pública
Start Page
140
End Page
5
ISSN
1726-4634
1726-4642
Abstract
OBJECTIVE.: To identify the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater from hospitals in Peru. MATERIALS AND METHODS.: Water samples were collected from the effluents of nine hospitals in Peru during March and September 2022. SARS-CoV-2 was identified by using Illumina sequencing. Variant, lineage and clade assignments were carried out using the Illumina and Nextclado tools. We verified whether the SARS-CoV-2 variants obtained from wastewater were similar to those reported by the National Institute of Health of Peru from patients during the same period and region. RESULTS.: Eighteen of the 20 hospital wastewater samples (90%) provided sequences of sufficient quality to be classified as the Omicron variant according to the WHO classification. Among them, six (30%) were assigned by Nextclade to clades 21K lineage BA.1.1 (n=1), 21L lineage BA.2 (n=2), and 22B lineages BA.5.1 (n=2) and BA .5.5 (n=1). CONCLUSIONS.: SARS-CoV-2 variants were found in hospital wastewater samples and were similar to those reported by the surveillance system in patients during the same weeks and geographic areas. Wastewater monitoring could provide information on the environmental and temporal variation of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. Motivation for the study. To contribute to the surveillance of environmental samples from hospital effluents in order to achieve early warning of possible infectious disease outbreaks. Main findings. The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus was detected in wastewater from hospitals in Puno, Cuzco and Cajamarca; these results are similar to the reports by the Peruvian National Institute of Health based on nasopharyngeal swab samples. Implications. The presence of the Omicron variant in hospital wastewater during the third wave of the pandemic should raise awareness of the treatment system before wastewater is discharged into the public sewer system.