Wastewater-based epidemiology for preventing outbreaks and epidemics in Latin America – Lessons from the past and a look to the future

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Virologia Comparada e Ambiental. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), 525 23rd St NW, Washington, DC 20037, United States of America.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Virologia Comparada e Ambiental. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo (CETESB). Departamento de Análise Ambiental. São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Instituto de Investigaciones para la Industria Química (INIQUI), Universidad Nacional de Salta (UNSa) – Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and Facultad de Ingeniería, UNSa, Av. Bolivia 5150, Salta 4400, Argentina / Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Science Engineering (SCELSE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Departamento de Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Departamento de Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo (CETESB). Departamento de Análise Ambiental. São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), 525 23rd St NW, Washington, DC 20037, United States of America.

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is an approachwith the potential to complement clinical surveillance systems. Using WBE, it is possible to carry out an early warning of a possible outbreak, monitor spatial and temporal trends of infectious diseases, produce real-time results and generate representative epidemiological information in a territory, especially in areas of social vulnerability. Despite the historical uses of this approach, particularly in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, and for other pathogens, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic that occurred an exponential increase in environmental surveillance programs for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater,withmany experiences and developments in the field of public health using data for decisionmaking and prioritizing actions to control the pandemic. In Latin America, WBE was applied in heterogeneous contexts and with emphasis on populations that present many socio-environmental inequalities, a condition shared by all Latin American countries. This manuscript addresses the concepts and applications ofWBE in public health actions, as well as different experiences in Latin American countries.

Keywords in Portuguese

Vigilância ambiental
América Latina
Patógenos
Saúde Pública
Epidemiologia baseada em águas residuais

Keywords

Environmental surveillance
Latin America
Pathogens
Public health
Wastewater-based epidemiology

Publisher

Elsevier B. V.

Citation

PRADO, Tatiana et al. Wastewater-based epidemiology for preventing outbreaks and epidemics in Latin America – Lessons from the past and a look to the future. Science of the Total Environment, 865 (2023) 161210, p. 1 - 14, 2023.

ISSN

0048-9697

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/57616

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Open access

Sustainable Development Goals

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