Stopping its gradual de-escalation viral load of the young coronavirus in its municipal waste Thessaloniki recorded in the last measurements of the week for the research conducted by Sewage Epidemiology Team of AUTh with EYATH, in collaboration with Region of Central Macedonia and within its National Network ΕΟΔΥ.

As shown in the diagrams presented by ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ, in the last few days fluctuations in the load values ​​have been recorded, which are interpreted as a temporary stabilization trend in a high level of virus spread.

Specifically, in the samples taken daily at the entrance of the Thessaloniki Wastewater Treatment Plant, regarding the rationalized values ​​related to the secretion of viral load, the average value of the two most recent measurements, ie Wednesday.

19/01/2022 and Thursday 20/01/2022 are:

• Stable (+ 6%) in relation to the average value of the two immediately preceding measurements of Monday 17/01/2022 and Tuesday 18/01/2022.
• Reduced (-38%) compared to the average price of the previous Wednesday 12/01/2022 and Thursday 13/01/2022

“At such a high level of virus spread in the community, given the Omicron strain transmissibility, we have that the balance of a gradual improvement of the epidemiological picture remains fragile and can be reversed, as it depends to a large extent on one’s personal attitude. against compliance with public health protection measures.

“The element that needs more attention is that from January 7 onwards, while there is a rapid de-escalation of the highly contagious Omicron strain, the most pathogenic Delta strain remains at about the same level,” the AUTh rector told APE-MPE scientifically. responsible for the research project, Professor Nikos Papaioannou.

“It is important for those over 50 to hurry for the booster dose”

In this context, the Rector of AUTh stressed that “it is extremely important for those who have not already done – and especially those over 50 – to rush for the commemorative third dose of the vaccine in order to be protected against the Delta strain, which has room to spread in the community and cause more serious illness and burden the health system “.

A possible interpretation of the evolution of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 strains in wastewater from the appearance of Omicron onwards, as shown in the curves in the relevant diagram, was made by the associate professor of Molecular Microbiology at the Department of Veterinary Medicine, AUTh. Chrysostomos Dovas“It seems that the rapid and massive dispersal of Omicron during the holidays concerned specific social networks with high mobility, mainly of young people, in which he has lost considerable immunity resulting in the de-escalation we have observed. The Delta executive, however, after so long, has already spread to all age groups and probably that is why he insists “.

The coronavirus assessment methodology in municipal waste, developed by the AUTh team, streamlines the measurements of its genome concentration based on 24 environmental factors, which may alter the results of the measurements. The molecular method of real-time PCR, developed by the AUTh Team, has the ability to selectively amplify the part of the gene that encodes the Omicron strain protein.