Dataset Information

Quantifying the relationship between sub-population wastewater samples and community-wide SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence.

ABSTRACT: Robust epidemiological models relating wastewater to community disease prevalence are lacking. Assessments of SARS-CoV-2 infection rates have relied primarily on convenience sampling, which does not provide reliable estimates of community disease prevalence due to inherent biases. This study conducted serial stratified randomized samplings to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 3717 participants, and obtained weekly samples of community wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in Jefferson County, KY (USA) from August 2020 to February 2021. Using an expanded Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model, the longitudinal estimates of the disease prevalence were obtained and compared with the wastewater concentrations using regression analysis. The model analysis revealed significant temporal differences in epidemic peaks. The results showed that in some areas, the average incidence rate, based on serological sampling, was 50 % higher than the health department rate, which was based on convenience sampling. The model-estimated average prevalence rates correlated well with the wastewater (correlation = 0.63, CI (0.31,0.83)). In the regression analysis, a one copy per ml-unit increase in weekly average wastewater concentration of SARS-CoV-2 corresponded to an average increase of 1-1.3 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection per 100,000 residents. The analysis indicates that wastewater may provide robust estimates of community spread of infection, in line with the modeled prevalence estimates obtained from stratified randomized sampling, and is therefore superior to publicly available health data.

SUBMITTER: Smith T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9444845 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Quantifying the relationship between sub-population wastewater samples and community-wide SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence.

Smith Ted T Holm Rochelle H RH Keith Rachel J RJ Amraotkar Alok R AR Alvarado Chance R CR Banecki Krzysztof K Choi Boseung B Santisteban Ian C IC Bushau-Sprinkle Adrienne M AM Kitterman Kathleen T KT Fuqua Joshua J Hamorsky Krystal T KT Palmer Kenneth E KE Brick J Michael JM Rempala Grzegorz A GA Bhatnagar Aruni A

The Science of the total environment 20220906

Robust epidemiological models relating wastewater to community disease prevalence are lacking. Assessments of SARS-CoV-2 infection rates have relied primarily on convenience sampling, which does not provide reliable estimates of community disease prevalence due to inherent biases. This study conducted serial stratified randomized samplings to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 3717 participants, and obtained weekly samples of community wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in ...[more]

PMID: 36084773

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Project description:There are only a few established methods to determine the concentration of encapsulated viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, in water matrices, limiting the application of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE)—an important tool for public health research. The present study compared four methods that are commonly used to concentrate non-encapsulated enteric viruses for determining SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater and wastewater-enriched river water samples. The four methods tested were electronegative membrane with Mg+2 addition, aluminum hydroxide-based precipitation, polyethylene glycol (PEG) 8000 precipitation, and ultrafiltration (with porosity of 10 and 50 kDa). Prior to the concentration step, filtration or centrifugation was performed to remove suspended particles from the samples (pretreatment). To evaluate the recovery efficiency (%), samples of SARS-CoV-2 from nasopharyngeal swabs obtained from RT-qPCR-positive patients were used as spiked samples. The second part of the analysis involved the quantification of the SARS-CoV-2 copy number in analytes without SARS-CoV-2-spiked samples. Among the tested methods, pretreatment via centrifugation followed by ultrafiltration with a 50-kDa cut-off was found the most efficient method for wastewater samples with spiked samples (54.3 or 113.01% efficiency). For the wastewater-enriched river samples with spiked samples, pretreatment via centrifugation followed by filtration using an electronegative membrane was the most efficient method (110.8% and 95.9% for N1 and N2 markers, respectively). However, ultrafiltration of the raw river water samples using 10 or 50 kDa cut-off filters and PEG 8000 precipitation showed the best concentration efficiency based on copy number, regardless of the pretreatment approach or sample type (values ranging from 3 × 105 to 6.7 × 103). The effectiveness of the concentration method can vary depending on the type of sample and concentration method. We consider that this study will contribute to more widespread use of WBE for the environmental surveillance of SARS-CoV-2. Graphical abstract Image 1

Project description:BackgroundInsufficient data on the rate and distribution of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Canada has presented a substantial challenge to the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our objective was to assess SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in a representative sample of pregnant people throughout Canada, across multiple time points over 2 years of the pandemic, to describe the seroprevalence and show the ability of this process to provide prevalence estimates.MethodsThis Canadian retrospective serological surveillance study used existing serological prenatal samples across 10 provinces over multiple time periods: Feb. 3-21, 2020; Aug. 24-Sept. 11, 2020; Nov. 16-Dec. 4, 2020; Nov. 15-Dec. 3, 2021; and results from the province of British Columbia during a period in which the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant was predominant, from Nov. 15, 2021, to June 11, 2022. Age and postal code administrative data allowed for comparison with concurrent polymerase chain reactivity (PCR)-positive results collected by Statistics Canada and the Canadian Surveillance of COVID-19 in Pregnancy (CANCOVID-Preg) project.ResultsSeropositivity in antenatal serum as early as February 2020 indicates SARS-CoV-2 transmission before the World Health Organization's declaration of the pandemic. Seroprevalence in our sample of pregnant people was 1.84 to 8.90 times higher than the recorded concurrent PCR-positive prevalence recorded among females aged 20-49 years in November-December 2020. Overall seropositivity in our sample of pregnant people was low at the end of 2020, increasing to 15% in 1 province by the end of 2021. Seroprevalence among pregnant people in BC during the Omicron period increased from 5.8% to 43% from November 2021 to June 2022.InterpretationThese results indicate widespread vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2 infection before vaccine availability in Canada. During the time periods sampled, public health tracking systems were under-reporting infections, and seroprevalence results during the Omicron period indicate extensive community spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Dataset Information

Quantifying the relationship between sub-population wastewater samples and community-wide SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence.

Publications

Quantifying the relationship between sub-population wastewater samples and community-wide SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence.

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