Precision public health in schools enabled by wastewater surveillance: A case study of COVID-19 in an Upstate New York middle-high school campus during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Wastewater surveillance provides a cost-effective and non-invasive way to gain an understanding of infectious disease transmission including for COVID-19. We analyzed wastewater samples from one school site in Jefferson County, New York during the 2021-2022 school year. We tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | PLOS Global Public Health |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0001803&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1797315847366115328 |
|---|---|
| author | Haley Kappus-Kron Dana Ahmad Chatila Ainsley Mabel MacLachlan Nicole Pulido Nan Yang David A Larsen |
| author_facet | Haley Kappus-Kron Dana Ahmad Chatila Ainsley Mabel MacLachlan Nicole Pulido Nan Yang David A Larsen |
| author_sort | Haley Kappus-Kron |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wastewater surveillance provides a cost-effective and non-invasive way to gain an understanding of infectious disease transmission including for COVID-19. We analyzed wastewater samples from one school site in Jefferson County, New York during the 2021-2022 school year. We tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA once weekly and compared those results with the clinical COVID-19 cases in the school. The amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA correlated with the number of incident COVID-19 cases, with the best correlation being one day lead time between the wastewater sample and the number of COVID-19 cases. The sensitivity and positive predictive value of wastewater surveillance to correctly identify any COVID-19 cases up to 7 days after a wastewater sample collection ranged from 82-100% and 59-78% respectively, depending upon the amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the sample. The specificity and negative predictive value of wastewater surveillance to correctly identify when the school was without a case of COVID-19 ranged from 67-78% and 70-80%, respectively, depending upon the amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the sample. The lead time observed in this study suggests that transmission might occur within a school before SARS-CoV-2 is identified in wastewater. However, wastewater surveillance should still be considered as a potential means of understanding school-level COVID-19 trends and is a way to enable precision public health approaches tailored to the epidemiologic situation in an individual school. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:09:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-64945a0234c947c580d83e8751db08a1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2767-3375 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:09:46Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLOS Global Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-64945a0234c947c580d83e8751db08a12024-02-13T06:00:14ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLOS Global Public Health2767-33752024-01-0141e000180310.1371/journal.pgph.0001803Precision public health in schools enabled by wastewater surveillance: A case study of COVID-19 in an Upstate New York middle-high school campus during the 2021-2022 academic year.Haley Kappus-KronDana Ahmad ChatilaAinsley Mabel MacLachlanNicole PulidoNan YangDavid A LarsenWastewater surveillance provides a cost-effective and non-invasive way to gain an understanding of infectious disease transmission including for COVID-19. We analyzed wastewater samples from one school site in Jefferson County, New York during the 2021-2022 school year. We tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA once weekly and compared those results with the clinical COVID-19 cases in the school. The amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA correlated with the number of incident COVID-19 cases, with the best correlation being one day lead time between the wastewater sample and the number of COVID-19 cases. The sensitivity and positive predictive value of wastewater surveillance to correctly identify any COVID-19 cases up to 7 days after a wastewater sample collection ranged from 82-100% and 59-78% respectively, depending upon the amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the sample. The specificity and negative predictive value of wastewater surveillance to correctly identify when the school was without a case of COVID-19 ranged from 67-78% and 70-80%, respectively, depending upon the amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the sample. The lead time observed in this study suggests that transmission might occur within a school before SARS-CoV-2 is identified in wastewater. However, wastewater surveillance should still be considered as a potential means of understanding school-level COVID-19 trends and is a way to enable precision public health approaches tailored to the epidemiologic situation in an individual school.https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0001803&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Haley Kappus-Kron Dana Ahmad Chatila Ainsley Mabel MacLachlan Nicole Pulido Nan Yang David A Larsen Precision public health in schools enabled by wastewater surveillance: A case study of COVID-19 in an Upstate New York middle-high school campus during the 2021-2022 academic year. PLOS Global Public Health |
| title | Precision public health in schools enabled by wastewater surveillance: A case study of COVID-19 in an Upstate New York middle-high school campus during the 2021-2022 academic year. |
| title_full | Precision public health in schools enabled by wastewater surveillance: A case study of COVID-19 in an Upstate New York middle-high school campus during the 2021-2022 academic year. |
| title_fullStr | Precision public health in schools enabled by wastewater surveillance: A case study of COVID-19 in an Upstate New York middle-high school campus during the 2021-2022 academic year. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Precision public health in schools enabled by wastewater surveillance: A case study of COVID-19 in an Upstate New York middle-high school campus during the 2021-2022 academic year. |
| title_short | Precision public health in schools enabled by wastewater surveillance: A case study of COVID-19 in an Upstate New York middle-high school campus during the 2021-2022 academic year. |
| title_sort | precision public health in schools enabled by wastewater surveillance a case study of covid 19 in an upstate new york middle high school campus during the 2021 2022 academic year |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0001803&type=printable |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT haleykappuskron precisionpublichealthinschoolsenabledbywastewatersurveillanceacasestudyofcovid19inanupstatenewyorkmiddlehighschoolcampusduringthe20212022academicyear AT danaahmadchatila precisionpublichealthinschoolsenabledbywastewatersurveillanceacasestudyofcovid19inanupstatenewyorkmiddlehighschoolcampusduringthe20212022academicyear AT ainsleymabelmaclachlan precisionpublichealthinschoolsenabledbywastewatersurveillanceacasestudyofcovid19inanupstatenewyorkmiddlehighschoolcampusduringthe20212022academicyear AT nicolepulido precisionpublichealthinschoolsenabledbywastewatersurveillanceacasestudyofcovid19inanupstatenewyorkmiddlehighschoolcampusduringthe20212022academicyear AT nanyang precisionpublichealthinschoolsenabledbywastewatersurveillanceacasestudyofcovid19inanupstatenewyorkmiddlehighschoolcampusduringthe20212022academicyear AT davidalarsen precisionpublichealthinschoolsenabledbywastewatersurveillanceacasestudyofcovid19inanupstatenewyorkmiddlehighschoolcampusduringthe20212022academicyear |