Surveillance of influenza A and B viruses from community and hospital wastewater treatment plants

Abstract

AbstractInfluenza virus is a well‐known pathogen that can cause epidemics and pandemics. Several surveillance methods are being followed to monitor the transmission patterns and spread of influenza in the community. Wastewater‐based Epidemiology (WBE) can serve as an additional tool to detect the presence of influenza viruses. The current study primarily focuses on surveillance of Influenza A and Influenza B in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) samples. A total of 100 wastewater samples were collected in July (n = 50) and August (n = 50) 2023 from four different WWTPs in Manipal and Udupi, district of Karnataka, India. The WWTP samples were processed and tested by Real‐Time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT‐PCR). The data generated was analysed in comparison with the clinical Influenza cases. Of the 100 samples, 18 (18%) tested positive for Influenza A virus and 2 (2%) tested positive for Influenza B virus, with a viral load ranging 1.4 x 102–2.2 x 103 gc/L for influenza A virus and 5.2 x 103–7.7 x 103gc/L for influenza B virus. On correlating the WWTP positivity with clinical case, it was found that influenza clinical cases and virus positivity in wastewater increased simultaneously, emphasizing WBE as a concurrent method for monitoring influenza virus activity.