SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Epidemiology Can Be Enhanced by Occupational Health: The Experience of Monitoring Variants of Concern in Workplaces in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Sergio N Kuriyama; Bruna Farjun; Bianca Monteiro Henriques-Santos; Adriana Cabanelas; Juliana Lourenço Abrantes; João Gesto; Antonio A Fidalgo-Neto; Thiago Moreno L Souza

doi:10.3389/fmed.2022.862284

SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Epidemiology Can Be Enhanced by Occupational Health: The Experience of Monitoring Variants of Concern in Workplaces in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Apr 29:9:862284. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.862284. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Sergio N Kuriyama^{1

2}, Bruna Farjun^{1

2}, Bianca Monteiro Henriques-Santos^{1

2}, Adriana Cabanelas^{1

2}, Juliana Lourenço Abrantes³, João Gesto⁴, Antonio A Fidalgo-Neto², Thiago Moreno L Souza^{1

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ SESI Innovation Center for Occupational Health, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
² SENAI Innovation Institute for Green Chemistry, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
³ Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁴ Laboratório de Imunofarmacologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁵ National Institute for Science and Technology for Innovation on Diseases of Neglected Populations (INCT/IDPN), Center for Technological Development in Health (CDTS), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Abstract

The emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to extra caution in workplaces to avoid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In the occupational environment, SARS-CoV-2 testing is a powerful approach in providing valuable information to detect, monitor, and mitigate the spread of the virus and preserve productivity. Here a centralized Occupational Health Center provided molecular diagnosis and genomic sequences for companies and industries in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From May to August 2021, around 20% of the SARS-CoV-2 positive nasopharyngeal swabs from routinely tested workers were sequenced and reproduced the replacement of Gamma with Delta variant observed in regular surveillance programs. Moreover, as a proof-of-concept on the sensibility of the occupational health genomic surveillance program described here, it was also found: i) the primo-identification of B.1.139 and A.2.5 viral genomes in Brazil and ii) an improved dating of Delta VoC evolution, by identifying earlier cases associated with AY-related genomes. We interpret that SARS-CoV-2 molecular testing of workers, independent of symptom presentation, provides an earlier opportunity to identify variants. Thus, considering the continuous monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in workplaces, positive samples from occupation health programs should be regarded as essential to improve the knowledge on virus genetic diversity and VoC emergence.

Keywords: COVID; SARS-CoV-2; molecular sequence; next generation (deep) sequencing (NGS); occupational medical care; surveillance; variants of concern (VOCs).