Hepatitis and influenza viruses in the wastewater
During 2020 and the covid19 pandemic, researchers at KTH developed a method to detect the presence of coronavirus in wastewater. In this way, society could be warned if and when a new wave of disease was on its way. Now the researchers have expanded the virus hunt to also include, among other things, hepatitis, seasonal flu and monkeypox.
– Our research group has developed a new method to detect the presence of adenovirus F41, a virus identified as the primary cause of the new outbreak of hepatitis in children. Our method is specialized in measuring the amount of human adenovirus and we have just presented our method to the European Commission and the Public Health Agency, says Zeynep Cetecioglu Gurol, senior lecturer at KTH.
– Our research group has developed a new method to detect the presence of adenovirus F41, a virus identified as the primary cause of the new outbreak of hepatitis in children. Our method is specialized in measuring the amount of human adenovirus and we have just presented our method to the European Commission and the Public Health Agency, says Zeynep Cetecioglu Gurol, senior lecturer at KTH.
Increased number of outbreaks
The research work has been carried out at the Albanova University Center and colleague Mariel Perez Zabaleta, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Industrial Biotechnology at KTH, says that there are good reasons to keep an eye on the spread of various viruses in society. The World Health Organization WHO has reported an increasing number of outbreaks of hepatitis among children under the age of 16 in the world in 2022. The exact figures are 1,010 cases of which 22 deaths in a total of 35 countries.
– These cases are unrelated to travel, and most children tested positive for adenovirus F41 as the predominant, new hepatitis variant. Five percent of 1,010 children have had to undergo a liver transplant, says Mariel Perez Zabaleta.
She further explains that there are studies from 2022 that point to a connection between Adenovirus F41 (HAdV F41) and covid19 (SARS-CoV-2), that people with both viruses can have more powerful inflammations in, for example, the liver. This applies not least to children.
– Tracking how this hepatitis virus spreads in the population, and specifically keeping an eye on Adenovirus F41 in areas with schools, can help authorities and healthcare to act if they see a high spread of infection among young people. A clear picture of the ongoing spread of infection could also be helpful in investigating the cause of the hepatitis outbreak, says Mariel Perez Zabaleta.
Not only viruses are tracked
Not only viruses that cause covid19 and hepatitis
It is not only viruses that cause covid19 and hepatitis that researchers can now detect in waste water. In the hunt for monkeypox, samples have been analyzed from water treatment plants.
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