Abstract
It is undoubtedly that Covid-19 pandemic disrupted massively our earthly lives. Besides the washing of hands, use of masks, social distancing and constant application of hand sanitizers, this pandemic accentuated the sanitation problems in developing countries, where water and sewage collection and/or treatment lack in many areas. Sewage can reveal true scale of the population contamination outbreak. Thus, in places, where clinical testing is deficient, SARS-CoV-2 sewage monitoring can be of paramount importance to proceed with accurate public health policies to prevent the spread of the contamination. In this paper, the main goal was to overview the Covid-19 tracking in Brazil among the distinct research networks formed in this continental country. An overview of the beginning and the status regarding this disease tracking in Brazil via wastewater and environmental monitoring was discussed. Results showed that at least seven research groups’ leaders in four of the five regions of Brazil are conducting decentralized monitoring of covid-19 in sewage trough Wastewater Based Epidemiology (WBE) and monitoring the affected areas. All official information were centralized in the federal government agency, National Agency for Water and Sanitation. A consolidated and centralized center with this information is important to pave the way for the development of guidelines for a future and permanent National Wastewater Surveillance Plan. This information is especially useful to precede future needs for hospitalizations and establish a rigorous control in terms of biosafety protocol and lockdown. These efforts and research along with continuous monitoring showed also to be of paramount importance to verify vaccine effectiveness and to detect outbreaks in specific areas.
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Acknowledgements
Authors would like to thank for the support and funding received by the following Agencies: National Agency for Water and Sanitation (ANA), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Minas Gerais Research Foundation (FAPEMIG), Minas Gerais Sanitation Company (Copasa), Minas Gerais Institute of Water Management (Igam), Minas Gerais State Health Authority (SES), Pernambuco Sanitation Company (Compesa), BRK Ambiental, Pernambuco Environmental Agency (CPRH), National Institute of Science and Technology in Sustainable WTPs (INCT) and Pernambuco Research Foundation (FACEPE). Authors also would like to express their gratitude to DAAD to support the Exceed-Swindon Project that enabled to form a strong network among researchers, to improve the quality of science information and to promote a better quality of life for the population in developing countries.
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de Araújo, J.C., Haarstrick, A., Gavazza, S., Florêncio, L., Carissimi, E. (2022). Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: Overview of Covid-19 Tracking in Brazil. In: Bahadir, M., Haarstrick, A. (eds) Water and Wastewater Management. Water and Wastewater Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95288-4_16
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