Highlights
- The study covered about 80% of the sewage treatment plants in Hyderabad
- In Hyderabad, nearly 2 lakh people who are shedding viral materials: Study
- Extrapolating the data shows that around 6 lakh have been infected
Hyderabad: There may be at least six lakh people in the city who have been infected by coronavirus with a large number of them asymptomatic and need no hospitalisation, a study said on Wednesday (August 19). Conducted by CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, the study said individuals infected by SARS-CoV-2 shed virus not only through nasal and oral routes but also through faeces. In a joint effort, CCMB and IICT harvested the sewage samples of different sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the city to estimate the number of potentially infected individuals, it said.
According to the study, 80 per cent of the STPs revealed nearly two lakh people are shedding viral materials and only 40 per cent of the sewage reach STPs which may indicate that about six lakh people in the city carried or are carrying the virus.
This study, covering about 80 per cent of the STPs in Hyderabad, revealed that there are nearly 2 lakh people who are shedding viral materials. Since only 40 per cent of the sewage reach STPs, this data can be used to extrapolate the overall number of potentially infected people, which turned out to be approximately six lakh, that is, around six per cent of the population, which includes symptomatic, asymptomatic, and also recently recovered individuals in a time window of about35 days, the CCMB said.
The findings are posted on preprint server MedRxiv, which is yet to be peer reviewed, it added. According to a press release from the Telangana government, as on August 18, there are 95,700 positive cases reported in the state. Director, CCMB, Rakesh Mishra said if such studies are carried out in coordination with civic bodies, it would help identify the hotspots and take necessary measures.
Our finding clearly indicates that a large proportion of the affected individuals are asymptomatic and did not need hospitalisation. This is also in agreement with the observation that hospitalisation rush or mortality is way lower than otherwise expected with such a large infection rates at a given time, the CCMB director said.
“It explains why our healthcare system has been able to handle reasonably well the situation during the pandemic,” he said.
All the experiments were conducted at the CSIR-CCMBCOVID- 19 testing facility and the teams were from CSIR-IICT and CSIR-CCMB, according to the release.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.
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