Show us the data: global COVID-19 wastewater monitoring efforts, equity, and gaps

Naughton, Colleen C.; Roman, Fernando A.; Alvarado, Ana Grace Fitzimons; Tariqi, Arianna Q.; Deeming, Matthew A.; Kadonsky, Krystin F.; Bibby, Kyle; Bivins, Aaron; Medema, Gertjan; Ahmed, Warish; Katsivelis, Panagis; Allan, Vajra; Sinclair, Ryan; Rose, Joan B.

doi:10.1093/femsmc/xtad003

Cited by 74 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The analysis of samples collected from WWTPs can reflect the viral load of the entire population served by the sewerage system. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to rapid and substantial advances in the field of WBS of respiratory pathogens, and many countries and institutions perform routine sewage monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 [ 6 ]. This implementation of WBS has naturally led to the need to explore its potential for public health surveillance beyond SARS-CoV-2 monitoring.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wastewater Levels of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Associated with Influenza-like Illness Rates in Children—A Case Study in Larissa, Greece (October 2022–January 2023)

Koureas

Mellou

Vontas

et al. 2023

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant progress in the field of wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) of respiratory pathogens and highlighted its potential for a wider application in public health surveillance. This study aimed to evaluate whether monitoring of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in wastewater can provide a comprehensive picture of disease transmission at the community level. The study was conducted in Larissa (Central Greece) between October 2022 and January 2023. Forty-six wastewater samples were collected from the inlet of the wastewater treatment plant of Larissa and analyzed with a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based method. RSV and SARS-CoV-2 wastewater viral loads (genome copies/100,000 inhabitants) were analyzed against sentinel surveillance data on influenza-like illness (ILI) to identify potential associations. Univariate linear regression analysis revealed that RSV wastewater viral load (lagged by one week) and ILI notification rates in children up to 14 years old were strongly associated (std. Beta: 0.73 (95% CI: 0.31–1.14), p = 0.002, R2 = 0.308). A weaker association was found between SARS-CoV-2 viral load and ILI rates in the 15+ age group (std. Beta: 0.56 (95% CI: 0.06–1.05), p = 0.032, R2 = 0.527). The results support the incorporation of RSV monitoring into existing wastewater-based surveillance systems.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wastewater Levels of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Associated with Influenza-like Illness Rates in Children—A Case Study in Larissa, Greece (October 2022–January 2023)

Koureas

Mellou

Vontas

et al. 2023

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This allows an efficient pandemic or pathogen management, including the implementation and validation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) [ 18 ]. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of WBE for pathogen surveillance and accelerated the world-wide implementation of this tool [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding the Pathogen Panel in Wastewater Epidemiology to Influenza and Norovirus

Markt

Stillebacher

Nägele

et al. 2023

Viruses

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since the start of the 2019 pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has proven to be a valuable tool for monitoring the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2. With methods and infrastructure being settled, it is time to expand the potential of this tool to a wider range of pathogens. We used over 500 archived RNA extracts from a WBE program for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance to monitor wastewater from 11 treatment plants for the presence of influenza and norovirus twice a week during the winter season of 2021/2022. Extracts were analyzed via digital PCR for influenza A, influenza B, norovirus GI, and norovirus GII. Resulting viral loads were normalized on the basis of NH4-N. Our results show a good applicability of ammonia-normalization to compare different wastewater treatment plants. Extracts originally prepared for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance contained sufficient genomic material to monitor influenza A, norovirus GI, and GII. Viral loads of influenza A and norovirus GII in wastewater correlated with numbers from infected inpatients. Further, SARS-CoV-2 related non-pharmaceutical interventions affected subsequent changes in viral loads of both pathogens. In conclusion, the expansion of existing WBE surveillance programs to include additional pathogens besides SARS-CoV-2 offers a valuable and cost-efficient possibility to gain public health information.

show abstract

“…Wastewater surveillance (WWS) is known as a low-cost, robust, and noninvasive disease surveillance tool , that saw an increase in adoption during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This successful application of WWS in tracking COVID-19 infections was reported in countries such as Australia, USA, Spain, Netherlands, Singapore, and India − and (as of March 2022) has resulted in more than 3,300 sampling sites in 64 countries . The increased interest and wide implementation of WWS for SARS-CoV-2 has opened up the possibility of identifying future emerging zoonotic viruses and developing an early warning system for future pandemics …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Comparing Recovery Methods for Wastewater Surveillance of Arthropod-Borne and Enveloped Viruses

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The potential public health utility of arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) wastewater surveillance (WWS) warrants the effort of establishing an effective sample preparation workflow. Here, we investigated different sample clarification, concentration, and extraction methods to determine the best workflow for recovery of spiked arboviral and murine hepatitis virus RNA signals in wastewater. We determined that the sample clarification method with the least loss is filtration through a 0.22 μm filter (9.06 ± 3.68%) when compared with centrifugation. Out of four different concentration methods (centrifugal ultrafiltration, polyethylene glycol precipitation, charged membrane capture and elution, and hollow-fiber ultrafiltration), centrifugal ultrafiltration, specifically using Macrosep Advance column (30 kDa), has the highest mean recovery of 84.76 ± 17.45%. With this method, we can reliably recover seeded arboviruses at concentrations corresponding to 10 infections in 400 to 180,000 people, depending on the shedding rate. As arboviruses are expected to be on the rise due to the expansion of their vectors’ geographic distribution, this research will lay the foundation for managing and reducing the impact of arboviral outbreaks through WWS-informed public health measures.

show abstract

Show us the data: global COVID-19 wastewater monitoring efforts, equity, and gaps

Cited by 74 publications

References 27 publications

Wastewater Levels of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Associated with Influenza-like Illness Rates in Children—A Case Study in Larissa, Greece (October 2022–January 2023)

Wastewater Levels of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Associated with Influenza-like Illness Rates in Children—A Case Study in Larissa, Greece (October 2022–January 2023)

Expanding the Pathogen Panel in Wastewater Epidemiology to Influenza and Norovirus

Comparing Recovery Methods for Wastewater Surveillance of Arthropod-Borne and Enveloped Viruses

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About