Research Projects

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, and has since spread globally, resulting in the ongoing 2019–20 pandemic. The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 infection appears to be wide. Multiple variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have emerged, threatening progress toward COVID-19 pandemic control. Among the many variants, B.1.1.7/Alpha (first seen in Kent, UK), B.1.351/Beta (first seen in South Africa), and B.1.1.28.1 or P1/Gamma (first seen in Brazil) have been classified as VOC due to increased transmissibility and decreased vaccine effectiveness. This is a significant and particularly challenging issue in parts of the world where emergence of variants and their persistence to cause outbreaks. In addition, the emergence and spread of the B.1.617.2/Delta variant considered to be driving the devastating second wave of COVID-19 in India. Currently, the Delta variant has rapidly overtaken the previously circulating variants to become the dominant strain. Critical mutations in the spike/RBD region of these variants have raised serious concerns about the virus's increased transmissibility and decreased vaccine effectiveness. In the Indian setting, it is highly evidential that the emergence and spread of B.1.617.2/Delta variant with 55% higher R0 than the circulating B.1.1.7/Alpha variant is a classic Red Queen evolutionary dynamics with the former replacing the latter over time. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to monitor the circulating SARS-CoV2 strain variants in hospital sewage and community in the COVID-19 hotspots of Vellore, and to analyze their supportive sewage microbiome. Studies comparing the variants from waste water in India is rare. It will help us understand the persistence and the changes of SARS-CoV2 variants according to seasonal changes. Further, a metagenomic approach will help in identifying the potential microbiome supporting the existence of SARS-CoV2 in the sewage environment.