Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Oct 13, 2024 23:55:20 GMT
Longitudinal monitoring of respiratory syncytial virus, SARS-CoV-2 and influenza in wastewater of a Southern Indian city - Preprint posted Oct 11, 2024
Abstract
The detection of diverse pathogens and chemical compounds in community wastewater facilitates the monitoring of public health trends of emerging diseases and health conditions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, detection of viral RNA in wastewater assisted in monitoring the infection rates in different geographies and this drew attention to the method of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). In contrast to individual clinical testing, WBE offers an affordable, population-wide overview of the infection status of a community including asymptomatic carriers and those without access to healthcare facilities. To understand the community status of the infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus, SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus subtypes in the monsoon season in Vijayawada city in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India, we longitudinally analyzed wastewater samples once a week between July-August 2024 from 7 sewage treatment plants in the city. The data obtained from the multiplexed RT-qPCR was used to calculate the viral loads in the wastewater samples at the city level and the proportion of population shedding the virus was estimated. All three viruses RSV A+B, SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A+B were detected in the wastewater during our sampling period. Amongst the three viruses, the city had the largest load of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the wastewater followed by RSV A+B and Influenza A+B. The study demonstrates the potential of utilizing wastewater surveillance system coupled to multiplexed RT-PCR to understand the population level dynamics of co-existence of multiple pathogens during the monsoon season in the urban settings.
Abstract
The detection of diverse pathogens and chemical compounds in community wastewater facilitates the monitoring of public health trends of emerging diseases and health conditions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, detection of viral RNA in wastewater assisted in monitoring the infection rates in different geographies and this drew attention to the method of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). In contrast to individual clinical testing, WBE offers an affordable, population-wide overview of the infection status of a community including asymptomatic carriers and those without access to healthcare facilities. To understand the community status of the infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus, SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus subtypes in the monsoon season in Vijayawada city in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India, we longitudinally analyzed wastewater samples once a week between July-August 2024 from 7 sewage treatment plants in the city. The data obtained from the multiplexed RT-qPCR was used to calculate the viral loads in the wastewater samples at the city level and the proportion of population shedding the virus was estimated. All three viruses RSV A+B, SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A+B were detected in the wastewater during our sampling period. Amongst the three viruses, the city had the largest load of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the wastewater followed by RSV A+B and Influenza A+B. The study demonstrates the potential of utilizing wastewater surveillance system coupled to multiplexed RT-PCR to understand the population level dynamics of co-existence of multiple pathogens during the monsoon season in the urban settings.