Making waves: Plausible lead time for wastewater based epidemiology as an early warning system for COVID-19.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors established a framework to critique the potential of wastewater-based epidemiology to serve as an early warning system, with special attention to the onset of viral shedding and the differential between results reporting for WBE and clinical testing.
About: This article is published in Water Research.The article was published on 2021-09-01 and is currently open access. It has received 64 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Early warning system.
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TL;DR: In this article , the authors measured SARS-CoV-2 RNA load in raw wastewater in Attica, Greece, by RT-qPCR for the environmental surveillance of COVID-19 for 6 months.
68 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured SARS-CoV-2 RNA load in raw wastewater in Attica, Greece, by RT-qPCR for the environmental surveillance of COVID-19 for 6 months.
67 citations
TL;DR: In this article , a review of the MPXV outbreak relevant to wastewater monitoring and discuss the challenges associated with WBS is presented. And the authors identify the key factors that impact the detection of MPXVs biomarkers in wastewater and improve the utility of WBS as an early warning and monitoring tool for safeguarding human health.
39 citations
10 Sep 2021
TL;DR: Recovery-corrected SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in primary influent indicate diurnal loading patterns and confirm monitoring dependent on grab samples should target daytime periods with high fecal loading, and large variation both within- and between-days may preclude robust quantitative analyses beyond correlation.
Abstract: Wastewater surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA is being used to monitor Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) trends in communities;however, within- and between-day variation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration in primary influent remains largely uncharacterized. In the current study, grab sampling of primary influent was performed every 2 h over two 24-h periods at two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in northern Indiana, USA. The recovery efficiency of endogenous SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater was confirmed to be similar to the recovery efficiency of the process control, bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV). Recovery-corrected SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in primary influent indicate diurnal loading patterns and confirm monitoring dependent on grab samples should target daytime periods with high fecal loading. Importantly, manual compositing performed at the WWTP resulted in concentrations that were consistently lower than grab sample averages indicating potential bias. Uncorrected, recovery-corrected, and pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV)-normalized SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations demonstrated an ordinal agreement with increasing clinical COVID-19 positivity but not COVID-19 cases. In areas where geolocated COVID-19 case data are not available, the COVID-19 positivity rate could provide a useful county-level metric for comparison with wastewater. Nonetheless, large variation both within- and between-days may preclude robust quantitative analyses beyond correlation.
38 citations
TL;DR: The positivity results indicated that for the analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater, including the eluate and pellet samples may further increase the detection sensitivity using RT-dPCR.
Abstract: We compared reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and RT digital PCR (RT-dPCR) platforms for the trace detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in low-prevalence COVID-19 locations in Queensland, Australia, using CDC N1 and CDC N2 assays. The assay limit of detection (ALOD), PCR inhibition rates, and performance characteristics of each assay, along with the positivity rates with the RT-qPCR and RT-dPCR platforms, were evaluated by seeding known concentrations of exogenous SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. The ALODs using RT-dPCR were approximately 2–5 times lower than those using RT-qPCR. During sample processing, the endogenous (n = 96) and exogenous (n = 24) SARS-CoV-2 wastewater samples were separated, and RNA was extracted from both wastewater eluates and pellets (solids). The RT-dPCR platform demonstrated a detection rate significantly greater than that of RT-qPCR for the CDC N1 and CDC N2 assays in the eluate (N1, p = 0.0029; N2, p = 0.0003) and pellet (N1, p = 0.0015; N2, p = 0.0067) samples. The positivity results also indicated that for the analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater, including the eluate and pellet samples may further increase the detection sensitivity using RT-dPCR.
36 citations
References
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TL;DR: Detailed virological analysis of nine cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) provides proof of active replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in tissues of the upper respiratory tract.
Abstract: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute infection of the respiratory tract that emerged in late 20191,2. Initial outbreaks in China involved 13.8% of cases with severe courses, and 6.1% of cases with critical courses3. This severe presentation may result from the virus using a virus receptor that is expressed predominantly in the lung2,4; the same receptor tropism is thought to have determined the pathogenicity—but also aided in the control—of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 20035. However, there are reports of cases of COVID-19 in which the patient shows mild upper respiratory tract symptoms, which suggests the potential for pre- or oligosymptomatic transmission6–8. There is an urgent need for information on virus replication, immunity and infectivity in specific sites of the body. Here we report a detailed virological analysis of nine cases of COVID-19 that provides proof of active virus replication in tissues of the upper respiratory tract. Pharyngeal virus shedding was very high during the first week of symptoms, with a peak at 7.11 × 108 RNA copies per throat swab on day 4. Infectious virus was readily isolated from samples derived from the throat or lung, but not from stool samples—in spite of high concentrations of virus RNA. Blood and urine samples never yielded virus. Active replication in the throat was confirmed by the presence of viral replicative RNA intermediates in the throat samples. We consistently detected sequence-distinct virus populations in throat and lung samples from one patient, proving independent replication. The shedding of viral RNA from sputum outlasted the end of symptoms. Seroconversion occurred after 7 days in 50% of patients (and by day 14 in all patients), but was not followed by a rapid decline in viral load. COVID-19 can present as a mild illness of the upper respiratory tract. The confirmation of active virus replication in the upper respiratory tract has implications for the containment of COVID-19. Detailed virological analysis of nine cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) provides proof of active replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in tissues of the upper respiratory tract.
5,840 citations
TL;DR: The detection of the virus RNA in sewage, even when the CO VID-19 prevalence is low, and the correlation between concentration in sewage and reported prevalence of COVID-19, indicate that sewage surveillance could be a sensitive tool to monitor the circulation of theirus in the population.
Abstract: In the current COVID-19 pandemic, a significant proportion of cases shed SARS-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) with their faeces. To determine if SARS-CoV-2 RNA was present in sewage during the emergence...
1,075 citations
TL;DR: The detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in early stages of the spread of COVID-19 highlights the relevance of this strategy as an early indicator of the infection within a specific population.
881 citations
TL;DR: The data show the utility of viral RNA monitoring in municipal wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 infection surveillance at a population-wide level and in communities facing a delay between specimen collection and the reporting of test results, immediate wastewater results can provide considerable advance notice of infection dynamics.
Abstract: We measured severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA concentrations in primary sewage sludge in the New Haven, Connecticut, USA, metropolitan area during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Spring 2020. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected throughout the more than 10-week study and, when adjusted for time lags, tracked the rise and fall of cases seen in SARS-CoV-2 clinical test results and local COVID-19 hospital admissions. Relative to these indicators, SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in sludge were 0–2 d ahead of SARS-CoV-2 positive test results by date of specimen collection, 0–2 d ahead of the percentage of positive tests by date of specimen collection, 1–4 d ahead of local hospital admissions and 6–8 d ahead of SARS-CoV-2 positive test results by reporting date. Our data show the utility of viral RNA monitoring in municipal wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 infection surveillance at a population-wide level. In communities facing a delay between specimen collection and the reporting of test results, immediate wastewater results can provide considerable advance notice of infection dynamics. Testing sewage for the novel coronavirus reveals epidemiological trends.
672 citations
University of Notre Dame1, Royal Institute of Technology2, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation3, Massachusetts Institute of Technology4, Stanford University5, Georgia Institute of Technology6, Catalan Institute for Water Research7, University of Calabria8, University of Pisa9, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research10, Federal University of Bahia11, North Carolina State University12, Howard University13, Bangor University14, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne15, University of Arizona16, Southern Nevada Water Authority17, University of Barcelona18, University of Yamanashi19, University of California, Santa Barbara20, Hokkaido University21, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar22, Toyama Prefectural University23, Istituto Superiore di Sanità24, University of Naples Federico II25, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee26, University of Washington27, University of Queensland28, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill29, University of Antwerp30, Yale University31, Tufts University32, Michigan State University33, Spanish National Research Council34, University of Southern California35, Rice University36, Georgia State University37, University of Osnabrück38, University of Michigan39
TL;DR: Author(s): Bivins, Aaron; North, Devin; Ahmad, Arslan; Ahmed, Warish; Alm, Eric; Been, Frederic; Bhattacharya, Prosun; Bijlsma, Lubertus; Boehm, Alexandria B; Brown, Joe; Buttiglieri, Gianluigi; Calabro, Vincenza; Carducci, Annalaura; Castiglioni, Sara; Cetecioglu Guro
Abstract: Author(s): Bivins, Aaron; North, Devin; Ahmad, Arslan; Ahmed, Warish; Alm, Eric; Been, Frederic; Bhattacharya, Prosun; Bijlsma, Lubertus; Boehm, Alexandria B; Brown, Joe; Buttiglieri, Gianluigi; Calabro, Vincenza; Carducci, Annalaura; Castiglioni, Sara; Cetecioglu Gurol, Zeynep; Chakraborty, Sudip; Costa, Federico; Curcio, Stefano; de Los Reyes, Francis L; Delgado Vela, Jeseth; Farkas, Kata; Fernandez-Casi, Xavier; Gerba, Charles; Gerrity, Daniel; Girones, Rosina; Gonzalez, Raul; Haramoto, Eiji; Harris, Angela; Holden, Patricia A; Islam, Md Tahmidul; Jones, Davey L; Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara; Kitajima, Masaaki; Kotlarz, Nadine; Kumar, Manish; Kuroda, Keisuke; La Rosa, Giuseppina; Malpei, Francesca; Mautus, Mariana; McLellan, Sandra L; Medema, Gertjan; Meschke, John Scott; Mueller, Jochen; Newton, Ryan J; Nilsson, David; Noble, Rachel T; van Nuijs, Alexander; Peccia, Jordan; Perkins, T Alex; Pickering, Amy J; Rose, Joan; Sanchez, Gloria; Smith, Adam; Stadler, Lauren; Stauber, Christine; Thomas, Kevin; van der Voorn, Tom; Wigginton, Krista; Zhu, Kevin; Bibby, Kyle
325 citations