Assessing sensitivity and reproducibility of RT-ddPCR and RT-qPCR for the quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.

ABSTRACT: Throughout the COVID-19 global pandemic there has been significant interest and investment in using Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) for surveillance of viral pathogen presence and infections at the community level. There has been a push for widescale implementation of standardized protocols to quantify viral loads in a range of wastewater systems. To address concerns regarding sensitivity, limits of quantification, and large-scale reproducibility, a comparison of two similar workflows using RT-qPCR and RT-ddPCR was conducted. Sixty raw wastewater influent samples were acquired from nine distinct wastewater treatment plants (WWTP's) served by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD, Virginia Beach, Virginia) over a 6-month period beginning March 9th, 2020. Common reagents, controls,

SUBMITTER: Ciesielski M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8267102 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature