Environmental and Public Health Microbiology Lab (EPHM Lab), Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
Melbourne Water Corp., 990 La Trobe St., Docklands, Victoria 3001, Australia.
Environ Sci Technol. 2021 Aug 3;55(15):10432-10441. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.1c01530. Epub 2021 Jul 15.
The shedding of pathogens by infected humans enables the use of sewage monitoring to conduct wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Although most WBE studies use data from large sewage treatment plants, timely data from smaller catchments are needed for targeted public health action. Traditional sampling methods, like autosamplers or grab sampling, are not conducive to quick deployments and high-resolution monitoring at these smaller scales. This study develops and validates a cheap and easily deployable passive sampler unit, made from readily available consumables, with relevance to the COVID-19 pandemic but with broader use for WBE. We provide the first evidence that passive samplers can be used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater from populations with low prevalence of active COVID-19 infections (0.034 to 0.34 per 10,000), demonstrating their ability for early detection of infections at three different scales (lot, suburb, and city). A side by side evaluation of passive samplers ( = 245) and traditionally collected wastewater samples ( = 183) verified that the passive samplers were sensitive at detecting SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. On all 33 days where we directly compared traditional and passive sampling techniques, at least one passive sampler was positive when the average SARS-CoV-2 concentration in the wastewater equaled or exceeded the quantification limit of 1.8 gene copies per mL ( = 7). Moreover, on 13 occasions where wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations were less than 1.8 gene copies per mL, one or more passive samplers were positive. Finally, there was a statistically significant ( < 0.001) positive relationship between the concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and the levels found on the passive samplers, indicating that with further evaluation, these devices could yield semi-quantitative results in the future. Passive samplers have the potential for wide use in WBE with attractive feasibility attributes of cost, ease of deployment at small-scale locations, and continuous sampling of the wastewater. Further research will focus on the optimization of laboratory methods including elution and extraction and continued parallel deployment and evaluations in a variety of settings to inform optimal use in wastewater surveillance.
受感染个体排出的病原体使得污水监测可用于开展基于污水的流行病学（WBE）研究。尽管大多数 WBE 研究使用来自大型污水处理厂的数据，但对于有针对性的公共卫生行动而言，仍需要来自较小集水区的及时数据。传统的采样方法，如自动采样器或抓斗采样，不利于在较小规模上快速部署和进行高分辨率监测。本研究开发并验证了一种廉价且易于部署的被动采样器单元，该单元由现成的消耗品制成，与 COVID-19 大流行相关，但更广泛地用于 WBE。我们提供了第一个证据，证明被动采样器可用于检测 COVID-19 感染率低的人群（每 10000 人 0.034 至 0.34 人）的污水中的 SARS-CoV-2，展示了它们在三个不同规模（地段、郊区和城市）进行早期感染检测的能力。被动采样器（n = 245）和传统采集的污水样本（n = 183）的并行评估验证了被动采样器在检测污水中的 SARS-CoV-2 方面的敏感性。在我们直接比较传统采样和被动采样技术的 33 天中，至少有一个被动采样器在污水中 SARS-CoV-2 的平均浓度等于或超过 1.8 基因拷贝/毫升的定量限（n = 7）时呈阳性。此外，在污水 SARS-CoV-2 浓度低于 1.8 基因拷贝/毫升的 13 次情况下，一个或多个被动采样器呈阳性。最后，污水中 SARS-CoV-2 的浓度与被动采样器上的浓度之间存在统计学上显著的（<0.001）正相关关系，表明随着进一步评估，这些设备未来可能会产生半定量结果。被动采样器具有广泛用于 WBE 的潜力，具有成本低、易于在小规模地点部署以及对污水进行连续采样等吸引人的可行性特征。进一步的研究将集中于优化实验室方法，包括洗脱和提取，并继续在各种环境中平行部署和评估，以告知在污水监测中最佳使用。
