A rapid increase in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the community of Thessaloniki is shown by the analyzes of the AUTh Sewage Epidemiology Team in the municipal waste of the city, in terms of the rate of multiplication of the viral load of the strain Omikron. In total, within 8 days, the load of the highly contagious strain of the virus increased fourteen times and at the moment it seems to be doubling every two days, which indicates an exponential increase in cases in the city. Already, since the date the Omicron variant was identified in wastewater, their total viral load has increased by 57%.
As shown in the diagrams presented by APE-MPE, the fourth wave of the pandemic peaked on November 25 and the slow de-escalation in the following three weeks was followed – with the viral load still in deep “red” – by a sharp increase, which also marks the beginning of the fifth wave of the pandemic. The reversal of the de-escalation course coincided with the appearance in the sewage of the Omicron strain on December 19, and from that day the line of ascent of the total viral load is similar to the corresponding line of ascent of Omicron.
“The recent measurements of eight days, which we make especially for the Omicron strain, show that its net increase in Thessaloniki is large and its viral load doubles every two days. This means that the number of people infected in the community is increasing exponentially, at a rapid pace “, said to APE-MPE the rector of AUTh and scientifically responsible for the research project, Professor Nikos Papaioannou.
Regarding the depiction of this epidemiological picture of the city in the cases, the rector of AUTh pointed out that “we estimate that during this period the real number of cases is greater than that recorded by the surveillance system, as the infections concern the majority young people who have no symptoms “.
Chrysostomos Dovas, Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology, a member of the Diagnostic Laboratory of the Department of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, described the time course from the appearance of the Omicron strain to its certain dominance in the APE-MPE, based on the of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for the detection and quantification of mutations: “Based on the measurements in the sewage, on 25/11 we had the peak of the epidemic wave of the Delta strain in Thessaloniki. Then and until 18/12, a continuous downward trend of the viral load was recorded. From the date of detection of Omicron in the city wastewater on 19/12 and until 26/12, there was an increase of the total viral load by 57%. However, this increase includes both executives, at a time when the dispersion of the Delta remains large “.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
.
