Dataset Information

Use of Sewage Surveillance for COVID-19: A Large-Scale Evidence-Based Program in Hong Kong.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sewage surveillance, by detecting SARS-CoV-2 virus circulation at the community level, has the potential to supplement individual surveillance for COVID-19. However, to date, there have been no reports about the large-scale implementation and validation of sewage surveillance for public health action.

Objective

Here, we developed a standardized approach for SARS-CoV-2 detection in sewage and applied it prospectively to supplement public health interventions.

Methods

We analyzed 1,169 sewage samples collected at 492 sites from December 2020 to March 2021. Forty-seven of 492 sites tested positive, 44 (94%) of them had traceable sources of viral signals in the corresponding sewershed, either from previously unsuspected but subsequently confirmed patients or recently convalescent patients or from both patient groups.

Results

Sewage surveillance had a sensitivity of 54%, a specificity of 95%, a positive predictive value of 53%, and a negative predictive value of 95% for identifying a previously unsuspected patient within a sewershed. Sewage surveillance in Hong Kong provided a basis for the statutory public health action to detect silent COVID-19 transmission.

Discussion

Considering the epidemiological data together with the sewage testing results, compulsory testing was conducted for individual residents at 27 positive sewage sites and uncovered total of 62 previously unsuspected patients, demonstrating the value of sewage surveillance in uncovering previously unsuspected patients in the community. Our study suggests that sewage surveillance could be a powerful management tool for the control of COVID-19. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9966.

SUBMITTER: Deng Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9097955 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Use of Sewage Surveillance for COVID-19: A Large-Scale Evidence-Based Program in Hong Kong.

Deng Yu Y Zheng Xiawan X Xu Xiaoqing X Chui Ho-Kwong HK Lai Wai-Kwan WK Li Shuxian S Tun Hein Min HM Poon Leo L M LLM Ding Jiahui J Peiris Malik M Leung Gabriel M GM Zhang Tong T

Environmental health perspectives 20220512 5

<h4>Background</h4>Sewage surveillance, by detecting SARS-CoV-2 virus circulation at the community level, has the potential to supplement individual surveillance for COVID-19. However, to date, there have been no reports about the large-scale implementation and validation of sewage surveillance for public health action.<h4>Objective</h4>Here, we developed a standardized approach for SARS-CoV-2 detection in sewage and applied it prospectively to supplement public health interventions.<h4>Methods< ...[more]

PMID: 35549717

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Project description:BACKGROUND: With China's rapid economic growth in the past few decades, there is currently an emerging focus on happiness. Cross-cultural validity studies have indicated that the four-item Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) has high internal consistency and stable reliability. However, the psychometric characteristics of the SHS in broader Chinese community samples are unknown. PURPOSE: We evaluated the factor structure and psychometric properties of the SHS in the Hong Kong general population. METHODS: The Chinese SHS was derived using forward-backward translation. Of the Cantonese-speaking participants aged ≥15 years, 2,635 were randomly selected from the random sample component of the FAMILY Cohort, a territory-wide cohort study in Hong Kong. In addition to the SHS, a single-item overall happiness scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Family Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection, Resolve (APGAR) scale, and the Medical Outcomes Study 12-item short-form version 2 (SF-12) mental and physical health scales were administered. RESULTS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a single factor with high loadings for the four SHS items. Multiple group analyses indicated factor invariance across sex and age groups. Cronbach's alpha was 0.82, and 2-week test-retest reliability (n = 191) was 0.70. The SHS correlated significantly with single-item overall happiness (Spearman's rho [ρ] = 0.57), Family APGAR (ρ = 0.26), PHQ-9 (ρ = -0.34), and mental health-related quality of life (ρ = 0.40) but showed a lower correlation with physical health (ρ = 0.15). A regression model that included the PHQ-9 and Family APGAR scores explained 37% of the variance in SF-12 mental health scores; adding the SHS raised the variance explained to 41 %. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the reliability and validity of the SHS as a relevant component in the measurement battery for mental well-being in a Chinese general population.

Dataset Information

Use of Sewage Surveillance for COVID-19: A Large-Scale Evidence-Based Program in Hong Kong.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Discussion

Publications

Use of Sewage Surveillance for COVID-19: A Large-Scale Evidence-Based Program in Hong Kong.

Similar Datasets

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