Last week, Karnataka’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) reviewed the situation in the wake of some states reporting new sub-types of Omicron BQ.1 and BA.2.3.20 in addition to XBB.
Last week, Karnataka’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) reviewed the situation in the wake of some states reporting new sub-types of Omicron BQ.1 and BA.2.3.20 in addition to XBB.
In view of new sub-types of omicrons emerging in some states, the COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of Karnataka has recommended monitoring of sewage in Mangaluru airport as planned and approved earlier. Further, regarding the results of sewage monitoring in Bengaluru clinical landscape in the cityTAC has recommended that similar monitoring should be done in Belagavi and Kalaburagi.
In view of some states reporting new subtypes of Omicron BQ.1 and BA.2.3.20, in addition to XBB, which is a recombinant of BA.2.75 and BJ.1, TAC is required to review the situation. The meeting took place last week. Sewage surveillance during the emergence of the Ba.4 and Ba.5 sub-lineages of Omicron in June-July this year is known to have provided an early warning on the imminent local surge of COVID-19.
It may be recalled that sewage monitoring carried out in May had shown the presence of possible BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages of Omicron in some samples in Bengaluru. However, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) has confirmed this only in the last week of June.
Who monitors sewage?
The TAC report said: “The Infectious Disease Research Foundation (IDRF) has been conducting sewage surveillance for COVID-19 in the BBMP area officially since June 2022, and providing the results on a weekly basis every Saturday. Used to be. The 19th report was presented on 15 October. The results are correlated with the clinical scenario, and have recently shown a gradual decrease in the positivity rate which is in line with the clinical scenario in Bengaluru. ,
“In view of the emergence of new sub-types of Omicron in India and various parts of the world, it is recommended that the organization should soon start sewage monitoring in Mangaluru airport which was already planned and approved. Also, it has been recommended to start similar surveillance in cities in North Karnataka such as Belagavi and Kalaburagi. The sewage monitoring should continue at no cost to the state government,” the report said.
In addition, the TAC also recommended that Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), especially the search for new variants, should be accelerated.
vigilance on borders
TAC President MK Sudarshan said that with the emergence of the new sub-variant, there is a need to be vigilant in cities outside Bengaluru where there is movement of people across borders.
“Sewage surveillance is known to help with the early detection of any impending wave of COVID-19 and to inform the emergence of new forms of SARS-CoV 2 to initiate local public health actions. Known for In June, IDRF was given permission to conduct sewage surveillance in select sites in Bengaluru city, Bengaluru International Airport and Mangaluru airport. However, the exercise is yet to start in Mangaluru. So, we have now recommended that it should be started at the earliest, and should also be started in Belagavi and Kalaburagi,” he said.
State Health Commissioner Randeep D. said that the wastewater analysis is an early detection tool to assess the spread of new sub-lineages and variants in the positivity hotspot area.
“This is an early COVID-19 incidence indicator at the community level. Areas with high case load detected in sewage surveillance will be given priority for COVID-19 testing. However, the final authentication of such identity will take place only after confirmation by INSACOG,” the commissioner pointed out. Hindu,
monkeypox
So far 11 samples of suspected cases of monkeypox have come negative in Karnataka. These samples were tested at the Virus Research Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) in the Department of Microbiology at Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru. This is the designated laboratory for monkeypox testing in Karnataka.