tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Sci Total Environ
. 2022 Nov 7;160023.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160023. Online ahead of print.
Long-term SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in the wastewater of Stockholm: What lessons can be learned from the Swedish perspective?
Mariel Perez-Zabaleta[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Amena Archer[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Kasra Khatami[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mohammed Hakim Jafferali[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Prachi Nandy[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Merve Atasoy[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Madeleine Birgersson[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Cecilia Williams[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Zeynep Cetecioglu[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) can be used to track the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in a population. This study presents the learning outcomes from over two-year long monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in Stockholm, Sweden. The three main wastewater treatment plants in Stockholm, with a total of six inlets, were monitored from April 2020 until June 2022 (in total 600 samples). This spans five major SARS-CoV-2 waves, where WBE data provided early warning signals for each wave. Further, the measured SARS-CoV-2 content in the wastewater correlated significantly with the level of positive COVID-19 tests (r = 0.86; p << 0.0001) measured by widespread testing of the population. Moreover, as a proof-of-concept, six SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern were monitored using hpPCR assay, demonstrating that variants can be traced through wastewater monitoring. During this long-term surveillance, two sampling protocols, two RNA concentration/extraction methods, two calculation approaches, and normalization to the RNA virus Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) were evaluated. In addition, a study of storage conditions was performed, demonstrating that the decay of viral RNA was significantly reduced upon the addition of glycerol to the wastewater before storage at -80 °C. Our results provide valuable information that can facilitate the incorporation of WBE as a prediction tool for possible future outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 and in preparations for future pandemics.
Keywords: COVID-19; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); Sewage surveillance; Storage conditions; Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE); hpPCR.
. 2022 Nov 7;160023.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160023. Online ahead of print.
Long-term SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in the wastewater of Stockholm: What lessons can be learned from the Swedish perspective?
Mariel Perez-Zabaleta[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Amena Archer[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Kasra Khatami[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Mohammed Hakim Jafferali[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Prachi Nandy[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Merve Atasoy[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Madeleine Birgersson[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Cecilia Williams[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Zeynep Cetecioglu[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 36356735
- DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160023
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) can be used to track the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in a population. This study presents the learning outcomes from over two-year long monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in Stockholm, Sweden. The three main wastewater treatment plants in Stockholm, with a total of six inlets, were monitored from April 2020 until June 2022 (in total 600 samples). This spans five major SARS-CoV-2 waves, where WBE data provided early warning signals for each wave. Further, the measured SARS-CoV-2 content in the wastewater correlated significantly with the level of positive COVID-19 tests (r = 0.86; p << 0.0001) measured by widespread testing of the population. Moreover, as a proof-of-concept, six SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern were monitored using hpPCR assay, demonstrating that variants can be traced through wastewater monitoring. During this long-term surveillance, two sampling protocols, two RNA concentration/extraction methods, two calculation approaches, and normalization to the RNA virus Pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) were evaluated. In addition, a study of storage conditions was performed, demonstrating that the decay of viral RNA was significantly reduced upon the addition of glycerol to the wastewater before storage at -80 °C. Our results provide valuable information that can facilitate the incorporation of WBE as a prediction tool for possible future outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 and in preparations for future pandemics.
Keywords: COVID-19; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); Sewage surveillance; Storage conditions; Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE); hpPCR.