Leo Heijnen and Gertjan Medema recently published â€˜Surveillance of Influenza A and the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 in sewage and surface water in the Netherlands’ in: Journal of Water and Health Vol 9 No 3 pp 434–442.

           

Abstract

The role of the water cycle in spreading human pathogenic influenza viruses is poorly studied and is not considered to be significant. However, gastrointestinal symptoms developed in a large proportion of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus infected people during the pandemic in 2009 and fecal shedding was reported. This fecal route could potentially play a role in the entry of human pathogenic influenza viruses in to the water cycle. Monitoring of influenza viruses in sewage and surface water during the pandemic in 2009 showed that influenza A viruses were detected in sewage and surface water. However, the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus was not detected. These findings imply that the water cycle did not play a relevant role in spreading the pandemic influenza virus during the epidemic in the Netherlands in 2009. Analyses of deliberately contaminated water samples confirmed the ability of quantitative RT-PCR to detect influenza viruses in sewage samples whereas the analysis of large volumes of surface water was strongly hampered by the presence of PCR-inhibiting substances. More >>

 

You will find more peer reviewed articles on 'KWR Publications'

 

 

Eind september vond in Barcelona de achtste internationale conferentie plaats over waterreclamatie en -hergebruik. In lijn met de Europese ambities van KWR bezochten Gertjan Zwolsman (team Integraal Waterbeheer), Danny Traksel en Kerusha Lutchmiah (team Industrie, Afvalwater & Hergebruik) de conferentie. De laatste gaf een presentatie over 'Forward osmosis application enabling water and energy recovery from sewage'. Naast het verrijken van onze eigen kennis was de conferentie uiterst nuttig om contacten met andere kennisinstituten in Europa te leggen en kennis uit te wisselen.

 

Een van de meest opmerkelijke presentaties - 'Talking about water, the importance of using correct terminology' - ging over de impact van communicatie over water op consumenten. Het gebruik van de term 'purified' bleek bij consumenten de grootste acceptatie op te leveren, terwijl 'reclaimed' of 'recycled' water een negatief beeld oproepen. En dit terwijl 'reclaimed' water ook als 'purified' water kan worden bestempeld. Het gebruik van de correcte terminologie blijkt een grote (en onderschatte) invloed te hebben op bijvoorbeeld het succesvol implemteren van hergebruikinstallaties.

Danny Traksel , 
Teamleider KWR Industrie, Afvalwater & Hergebruik

Monday 19 September 2011 the HRWM conference kicked off by an energetic Maori welcome. Apart from the tribal welcome, Maori representatives also gave their view of water, and how it is embedded in their own identity. They stressed the need for emotional en spiritual healthy water. The first technical sessions on microbial water risks during emergencies and under climate change stress were led by dr. Gertjan Medema. First hand experiences from the earthquake in Christchurch and the cholera epidemic were shared. How do you handle a 1 m thick layer of sewage contaminated sludge spread out over a city where all drainage has been blocked? How can you treat hospital wastewater during a cholera epidemic in an emergency situation to prevent spreading of the disease?

 

Several speakers highlighted that on the long term climate change can increase microbial risks. Paul Hunter showed how more heavy rainfall events can lead to outbreaks especially at small supplies. Jack Schijven quantified the combined effects of changing precipitation patterns and increase of temperature on the fate and transport of pathogens in river water. The effect on persistent organisms like norovirus or Cryptosporidium differs from that on vulnerable organisms like Campylobacter. The afternoon session on catchment protection generally highlighted the shortcomings of indicator organism monitoring and presented several alternatives to characterize risks in the catchment. Bacteriodes typing is increasingly used to differentiate between human and animal contamination in the catchment but the search for the ideal indicator parameter continues.

 

Patrick Smeets, PhD
Scientific researcher