Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for SARS-CoV-2 – A review focussing on the significance of the sewer network using a Dublin city catchment case study. (1st September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mac Mahon, Joanne; Criado Monleon, Alejandro Javier; Gill, Laurence W.; O'Sullivan, John J.; Meijer, Wim G.
• Is Part Of: Water science and technology. Volume 86:Number 6(2022)
• Page Start: 1402
• Page End: 1425
• Publication Date: 2022-09-01
• Subjects: SARS-CoV-2 -- sewer sampling -- wastewater-based epidemiology -- wastewater network; Water -- Pollution; Sewage -- Purification; Water quality management; Periodicals; 628.168
• DOI: 10.2166/wst.2022.278
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0273-1223

Abstract

Abstract: Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been employed by many countries globally since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to assess the benefits of this surveillance tool in the context of informing public health measures. WBE has been successfully employed to detect SARS-CoV-2 at wastewater treatment plants for community-wide surveillance, as well as in smaller catchments and institutions for targeted surveillance of COVID-19. In addition, WBE has been successfully used to detect new variants, identify areas of high infection levels, as well as to detect new infection outbreaks. However, due to to the large number of inherent uncertainties in the WBE process, including the inherent intricacies of the sewer network, decay of the virus en route to a monitoring point, levels of recovery from sampling and quantification methods, levels of faecal shedding among the infected population, as well as population normalisation methods, the usefulness of wastewater samples as a means of accurately quantifying SARS-CoV-2 infection levels among a population remains less clear. The current WBE programmes in place globally will help to identify new areas of research aimed at reducing the levels of uncertainty in the WBE process, thus improving WBE as a public health monitoring tool for future pandemics. In the meantime, such programmes can provide valuable comparisons to clinical testing data and other public health metrics, as well being an effective early warning tool for new variants and new infection outbreaks. This review includes a case study of sampled wastewater from the sewer network in Dublin, Ireland, during a peak infection period of COVID-19 in the city, which evaluates the different uncertainties in the WBE process. HIGHLIGHTS: Essential components of wastewater-based epidemiology as applied to COVID-19 pandemic reviewed. Challenges facing data interpretation from wastewater sampling, uncertainties in the WBE process, identification & implementation of suitable sampling strategies reviewed. Environmental engineering perspective given. Above illustrated with example using raw data from wastewater sampling to quantify infection prevalence. Graphical Abstract