Early detection of local SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks by wastewater surveillance: a feasibility study.

ABSTRACT: Wastewater surveillance and quantitative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNA are increasingly used to monitor the spread of COVID-19 in the community. We studied the feasibility of applying the surveillance data for early detection of local outbreaks. A Monte Carlo simulation model was constructed, applying data on reported variation in RNA gene copy concentration in faeces and faecal masses shed. It showed that, even with a constant number of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedders, the variation in concentrations found in wastewater samples will be large, and that it will be challenging to translate viral concentrations into incidence estimates, especially when the number of shedders is low. Potential signals for early detection of hypothetical outbreaks were analysed for their performance in terms of sensitivit

SUBMITTER: Nauta M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9990400 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature