Home » Covid: Garattini, ‘from drugs to viruses, so we watch over the cities from the sewers’

Covid: Garattini, ‘from drugs to viruses, so we watch over the cities from the sewers’

by admin

Milan, May 20 (beraking latest news Salute) – The drugs that are consumed on white nights, the most used drugs, the viruses that circulate: everything that happens in the city is recorded. And to rewind the tape, just look in an unexpected place: the sewers, a precious mirror of society. Mirror of the consumption of substances, but also of epidemics. In Milan, at Irccs Mario Negri, the pioneers of this form of surveillance have been in the field for years, which today finds recognition in the latest version of the upcoming Dl Sostegni bis. In fact, in the folds of the draft of the provision, a funding of 5.8 million euros is foreseen precisely to set up a systematic surveillance activity of the Sars-CoV-2 and its variants in wastewater, which will be carried out by the Ministry of Health and by the Higher Institute of Health, with the support of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces.

“Some of our researchers – explains to beraking latest news Salute Silvio Garattini, president and founder of the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research – are the ones who basically invented this type of methodology to initially monitor the consumption of drugs of abuse”. It was 2005 and the first data obtained, which revealed the presence of an over-expected quantity of cocaine ‘waste’ in the Po river, went around the world. That monitoring was also applied to the wastewater of other cities around the world and there were several studies. “We have recently committed this system also to study the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus – underlines the scientist – and certainly, if the conditions are right and we have resources available, we intend to use this type of methodology and develop it in this direction” .

See also  "I asked the nurse for help, she said no"

As for the start-up of the network envisaged by the Dl, “it was important that there was an organization of this type that develops this activity – comments Garattini – We have the Higher Institute of Health and other organizations that, like us, are able to implement this type of methodology. This surveillance is important to get an idea of ​​what percentage of a certain variant circulates in an area. By analyzing the sewers near the treatment plant, you can see what circulates in Milan, for example, having an idea that is not only qualitative, but also of the extent to try to establish the percentage of each variant present. Certainly it can be very useful in identifying early warning signs. We will have to study the sensitivity of the methodology and see “.

“It is a question – specifies Garattini – of adapting something that is already being done, orienting it for this particular problem. And it can be very important not only for the present and future variants of Sars-CoV-2, but also to know how much virus circulates in a certain society. Monitoring that becomes important especially when, after mass vaccination, there will be a gradual return to normality “.

In Gb we are already looking at wastewater to monitor the threat of the Indian variant, in Spain what some experts call the ‘Madrid model’ includes among the actions the virus count in the wastewater to identify the most affected neighborhoods. Italy follows this track.

“And we at Mario Negri – concludes the pharmacologist – compatibly with the economic resources available, because it takes people who take care of them and equipment to carry out this type of exams, we continue to work on this path. We need to invest resources in this direction. an economic availability on the part of the Government for a surveillance network on waste water is welcome “.

See also  Binge eating: Stress, grief, boredom: With "Emotional Eating", eating becomes a problem solver

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More

Privacy & Cookies Policy