Actionable wastewater surveillance: application to a university residence hall during the transition between Delta and Omicron resurgences of COVID-19
Wastewater surveillance has gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic as an effective and non-biased means to track community infection. While most surveillance relies on samples collected at municipal wastewater treatment plants, surveillance is more actionable when samples are collected “upstre...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1139423/full |
| _version_ | 1797825489304289280 |
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| author | Ryland Corchis-Scott Qiudi Geng Abdul Monem Al Riahi Amr Labak Ana Podadera Kenneth K. S. Ng Lisa A. Porter Yufeng Tong Jess C. Dixon Sherri Lynne Menard Rajesh Seth R. Michael McKay |
| author_facet | Ryland Corchis-Scott Qiudi Geng Abdul Monem Al Riahi Amr Labak Ana Podadera Kenneth K. S. Ng Lisa A. Porter Yufeng Tong Jess C. Dixon Sherri Lynne Menard Rajesh Seth R. Michael McKay |
| author_sort | Ryland Corchis-Scott |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wastewater surveillance has gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic as an effective and non-biased means to track community infection. While most surveillance relies on samples collected at municipal wastewater treatment plants, surveillance is more actionable when samples are collected “upstream” where mitigation of transmission is tractable. This report describes the results of wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 at residence halls on a university campus aimed at preventing outbreak escalation by mitigating community spread. Another goal was to estimate fecal shedding rates of SARS-CoV-2 in a non-clinical setting. Passive sampling devices were deployed in sewer laterals originating from residence halls at a frequency of twice weekly during fall 2021 as the Delta variant of concern continued to circulate across North America. A positive detection as part of routine sampling in late November 2021 triggered daily monitoring and further isolated the signal to a single wing of one residence hall. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 within the wastewater over a period of 3 consecutive days led to a coordinated rapid antigen testing campaign targeting the residence hall occupants and the identification and isolation of infected individuals. With knowledge of the number of individuals testing positive for COVID-19, fecal shedding rates were estimated to range from 3.70 log10 gc ‧ g feces−1 to 5.94 log10 gc ‧ g feces−1. These results reinforce the efficacy of wastewater surveillance as an early indicator of infection in congregate living settings. Detections can trigger public health measures ranging from enhanced communications to targeted coordinated testing and quarantine. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:54:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d42c1118d1c54c50bc8c9317e8de8bb2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:54:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-d42c1118d1c54c50bc8c9317e8de8bb22023-05-17T05:37:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-05-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.11394231139423Actionable wastewater surveillance: application to a university residence hall during the transition between Delta and Omicron resurgences of COVID-19Ryland Corchis-Scott0Qiudi Geng1Abdul Monem Al Riahi2Amr Labak3Ana Podadera4Kenneth K. S. Ng5Lisa A. Porter6Yufeng Tong7Jess C. Dixon8Sherri Lynne Menard9Rajesh Seth10R. Michael McKay11Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaGreat Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaGreat Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaGreat Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaDepartment of Kinesiology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaEnvironmental Health and Safety, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaCivil and Environmental Engineering, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaGreat Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, CanadaWastewater surveillance has gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic as an effective and non-biased means to track community infection. While most surveillance relies on samples collected at municipal wastewater treatment plants, surveillance is more actionable when samples are collected “upstream” where mitigation of transmission is tractable. This report describes the results of wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 at residence halls on a university campus aimed at preventing outbreak escalation by mitigating community spread. Another goal was to estimate fecal shedding rates of SARS-CoV-2 in a non-clinical setting. Passive sampling devices were deployed in sewer laterals originating from residence halls at a frequency of twice weekly during fall 2021 as the Delta variant of concern continued to circulate across North America. A positive detection as part of routine sampling in late November 2021 triggered daily monitoring and further isolated the signal to a single wing of one residence hall. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 within the wastewater over a period of 3 consecutive days led to a coordinated rapid antigen testing campaign targeting the residence hall occupants and the identification and isolation of infected individuals. With knowledge of the number of individuals testing positive for COVID-19, fecal shedding rates were estimated to range from 3.70 log10 gc ‧ g feces−1 to 5.94 log10 gc ‧ g feces−1. These results reinforce the efficacy of wastewater surveillance as an early indicator of infection in congregate living settings. Detections can trigger public health measures ranging from enhanced communications to targeted coordinated testing and quarantine.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1139423/fullCOVID-19RT-qPCRSARS-CoV-2wastewaterpublic health |
| spellingShingle | Ryland Corchis-Scott Qiudi Geng Abdul Monem Al Riahi Amr Labak Ana Podadera Kenneth K. S. Ng Lisa A. Porter Yufeng Tong Jess C. Dixon Sherri Lynne Menard Rajesh Seth R. Michael McKay Actionable wastewater surveillance: application to a university residence hall during the transition between Delta and Omicron resurgences of COVID-19 Frontiers in Public Health COVID-19 RT-qPCR SARS-CoV-2 wastewater public health |
| title | Actionable wastewater surveillance: application to a university residence hall during the transition between Delta and Omicron resurgences of COVID-19 |
| title_full | Actionable wastewater surveillance: application to a university residence hall during the transition between Delta and Omicron resurgences of COVID-19 |
| title_fullStr | Actionable wastewater surveillance: application to a university residence hall during the transition between Delta and Omicron resurgences of COVID-19 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Actionable wastewater surveillance: application to a university residence hall during the transition between Delta and Omicron resurgences of COVID-19 |
| title_short | Actionable wastewater surveillance: application to a university residence hall during the transition between Delta and Omicron resurgences of COVID-19 |
| title_sort | actionable wastewater surveillance application to a university residence hall during the transition between delta and omicron resurgences of covid 19 |
| topic | COVID-19 RT-qPCR SARS-CoV-2 wastewater public health |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1139423/full |
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