VALENCIA, 16 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The GOlab-Gamaser laboratory is applying a fluorescence microscopic technique in a bid to detect the presence of the parasitic protozoan cryptosporidium – the same one that forced the closure of fountains in the Parc Central this summer – and “tackle this problem before it reaches the population”, as it can cause infections in the gastrointestinal tract.
“We always opt for prevention instead of taking corrective measures and that is why we have taken this line of research,” explained the director of services at Global Omnium, Juan Francisco Maestre.
Maestre has highlighted that the GOlab-Gamaser laboratory, located in the Global Omnium Technology Center in Paterna (Valencia), is the first private laboratory accredited by the National Accreditation Entity in the detection of protozoa in water. “We are already being called by a multitude of entities to try to detect this protozoan or see where it is located to try to tackle this problem” before it affects people, he stated.
“At the time we saw that there was a protozoan, cryptosporidium, that could cause problems and, although it is not yet a requirement to routinely measure it in water, we did see that its detection was very interesting because it produces effects such as gastroenteritis in people. and it was not being controlled,” said the expert.
The director of services at Global Omnium has stated that cryptosporidium lives in water and that, with the drought, “it seems to have greater density than before.” Without a good disinfection system, “this parasite can reach drinking water” and cause cases of gastroenteritis “as has happened in several municipalities,” he commented.
In the case of the Parc Central de València, in July of this year the fountains were preventively closed due to the presence of the parasitic protozoan. “The ponds accessible to the public could be disinfected. It has also been detected even in the drinking water network of some municipalities,” he explained.
“We always want to detect problems before they can reach the population. It is a somewhat unknown protozoan, but now, with this methodology, we can know which waters may have it.”
For her part, the head of development of the microbiology department at Global Omnium, Guadalupe Sastre, explained the process of detecting cryptosporidium in water with a fluorescence microscopic technique carried out in the GOlab – Gamaserm laboratory and allowing results to be obtained. in 48 to 72 hours.
“It is a fairly arduous process to be able to visualize it under the microscope and thus evaluate and quantify the number of cryptosporidium in 100 liters of water sample,” said Sastre, who has indicated the importance of looking for the focus when a outbreak to prevent “the pathogen from continuing to distribute with the rest of the population.
The researchers pass the 100 liter water samples through filters that are smaller in size than the cryptosporidium. Then, through a series of centrifugation processes, the sample goes to the next stage of immunocapture, in which spherical iron balls are used with an antibody on the surface that specifically binds to the antigens presented on its surface. the cryptosporidium.
Thus, only cryptosporidium is isolated. Afterwards, with some phlorochrome dyes, the fluorescent colored cryptosporidium cells can be visualized.
The head of innovation for Global Omnium’s services area, Ester Méndez, has detailed that cryptosporidium is a parasitic protozoan that is in water, and that when people ingest it, the intestinal tract becomes infected and causes diarrhea and vomiting.
Méndez has warned that if people who are immunosuppressed or older people, with slightly weaker defenses, are infected, “they may have some derived complications.” In fact, he pointed out that “there is a form of the disease that is respiratory dose cryptos that usually occurs in this type of immunosuppressed people”, in which the parasite “not only the parasite would be in the gastrointestinal tract, but that could pass into the respiratory tract.
“Until there is an adequate treatment to cut off the transmission route, the parasite remains alive,” said Méndez. “Before it is required in regulations, we find out if there is a health concern to try to adapt our techniques to identify this type of pathogens,” he indicated.
The presence of this protozoan does not have to be controlled continuously, but rather when other conditions occur, such as the presence of other bacteria and turbidity of the water. “We always try to get ahead of these situations before regulations require us to identify a certain pathogen,” he commented, before adding that this way they can be “prepared” to offer help when health authorities have a problem of this type. .
