tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Sci Total Environ
. 2026 May 15:1037:181862.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181862. Online ahead of print.
Wastewater-based surveillance for seasonal respiratory viruses provides a one-week lead to clinical cases and hospital admissions
Nicole Acosta[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xiaotian Dai[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Xuewen Lu[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Barbara J Waddell[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kristine Du[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Aito Ueno[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alexander Buchner Beaudet[SUP] 3 [/SUP], María A Bautista[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Janine McCalder[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Chloe Papparis[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Daniela Naomi De la Torre Espinoza[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Danielle A Southern[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Tyler Williamson[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Rhonda G Clark[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Jia Hu[SUP] 7 [/SUP], R Benson Weyant[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Jason L Cabaj[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Jamil N Kanji[SUP] 9 [/SUP], John M Conly[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Kevin Frankowski[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Christine O'Grady[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Bonita Lee[SUP] 12 [/SUP], Judy Qiu[SUP] 13 [/SUP], Xiaoli Pang[SUP] 14 [/SUP], Casey R J Hubert[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Michael D Parkins[SUP] 15 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) is a complementary tool for infectious disease surveillance, providing independent data that is inclusive of entire populations. We evaluated the role of WBS in tracking seasonal respiratory viral infections caused by influenza A (IAV) and B (IBV), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) - pathogens responsible for significant morbidity and mortality and imposing substantial burdens on healthcare systems. Longitudinal surveillance was performed 1-3 times weekly from January 2022-June 2024, encompassing multiple respiratory virus seasons, across the three municipal wastewater treatment plants serving Calgary, Canada's fourth largest city. Flow-normalized viral loads (gene copies/day) of IAV, IBV and RSV in 24-h composite wastewater were analyzed and compared to confirmed cases leveraging metadata from the single provincial health authority - Alberta Health Services. IAV and RSV RNA in wastewater peaked in winter months (November to February), with maximum viral loads of 4.4 × 10[SUP]13[/SUP] and 7.9 × 10[SUP]13[/SUP] (gene copies/day), respectively. In contrast, IBV was generally observed in late winter/early spring with low and infrequent periods of activity. Wastewater signals for all three respiratory viruses strongly correlated with clinical metrics including laboratory-confirmed cases, test percent positivity, and respiratory virus-associated hospital admissions (Spearman r value range: 0.66-0.90). Notably, WBS provided a 1-week lead time relative to traditional clinical respiratory viral surveillance indicators. WBS is a versatile technology that provides objective information that can augment traditional case-based surveillance of respiratory viruses and be used to predict changing disease prevalence and health resource requirements across communities.
Keywords: Epidemiological monitoring; Influenza; Pandemic; RSV; RT-qPCR; Wastewater-based epidemiology.
. 2026 May 15:1037:181862.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181862. Online ahead of print.
Wastewater-based surveillance for seasonal respiratory viruses provides a one-week lead to clinical cases and hospital admissions
Nicole Acosta[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Xiaotian Dai[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Xuewen Lu[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Barbara J Waddell[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kristine Du[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Aito Ueno[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alexander Buchner Beaudet[SUP] 3 [/SUP], María A Bautista[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Janine McCalder[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Chloe Papparis[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Daniela Naomi De la Torre Espinoza[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Danielle A Southern[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Tyler Williamson[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Rhonda G Clark[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Jia Hu[SUP] 7 [/SUP], R Benson Weyant[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Jason L Cabaj[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Jamil N Kanji[SUP] 9 [/SUP], John M Conly[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Kevin Frankowski[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Christine O'Grady[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Bonita Lee[SUP] 12 [/SUP], Judy Qiu[SUP] 13 [/SUP], Xiaoli Pang[SUP] 14 [/SUP], Casey R J Hubert[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Michael D Parkins[SUP] 15 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 42140068
- DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181862
Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) is a complementary tool for infectious disease surveillance, providing independent data that is inclusive of entire populations. We evaluated the role of WBS in tracking seasonal respiratory viral infections caused by influenza A (IAV) and B (IBV), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) - pathogens responsible for significant morbidity and mortality and imposing substantial burdens on healthcare systems. Longitudinal surveillance was performed 1-3 times weekly from January 2022-June 2024, encompassing multiple respiratory virus seasons, across the three municipal wastewater treatment plants serving Calgary, Canada's fourth largest city. Flow-normalized viral loads (gene copies/day) of IAV, IBV and RSV in 24-h composite wastewater were analyzed and compared to confirmed cases leveraging metadata from the single provincial health authority - Alberta Health Services. IAV and RSV RNA in wastewater peaked in winter months (November to February), with maximum viral loads of 4.4 × 10[SUP]13[/SUP] and 7.9 × 10[SUP]13[/SUP] (gene copies/day), respectively. In contrast, IBV was generally observed in late winter/early spring with low and infrequent periods of activity. Wastewater signals for all three respiratory viruses strongly correlated with clinical metrics including laboratory-confirmed cases, test percent positivity, and respiratory virus-associated hospital admissions (Spearman r value range: 0.66-0.90). Notably, WBS provided a 1-week lead time relative to traditional clinical respiratory viral surveillance indicators. WBS is a versatile technology that provides objective information that can augment traditional case-based surveillance of respiratory viruses and be used to predict changing disease prevalence and health resource requirements across communities.
Keywords: Epidemiological monitoring; Influenza; Pandemic; RSV; RT-qPCR; Wastewater-based epidemiology.