Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC, USA.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 915 Green Street, Columbia, SC, USA.
Environ Res. 2022 Dec;215(Pt 1):114277. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114277. Epub 2022 Sep 7.
The University of South Carolina (UofSC) was among the first universities to include building-level wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 to complement clinical testing during its reopening in the Fall 2020 semester. In the Spring 2021 semester, 24h composite wastewater samples were collected twice per week from 10 residence halls and the on-campus student isolation and quarantine building. The isolation and quarantine building served as a positive control site. The wastewater was analyzed using RT-ddPCR for the quantification of nucleocapsid genes (N1 and N2) to identify viral transmission trends within residence halls. Log SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations were compared to both new clinical cases identified in the days following wastewater collection and recovered cases returning to sites during the days preceding sample collection to test temporal and spatial associations. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between the number of cases reported from the sites during the seven-day period following wastewater sampling and the log viral RNA copies/L (overall IRR 1.08 (1.02, 1.16) p-value 0.0126). Additionally, a statistically significant positive relationship was identified between the number of cases returning to the residence halls after completing isolation during the seven-day period preceding wastewater sampling and the log viral RNA copies/L (overall 1.09 (1.01, 1.17) p-value 0.0222). The statistical significance of both identified cases and recovered return cases on log viral RNA copies/L in wastewater indicates the importance of including both types of clinical data in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) research. Genetic mutations associated with variants of concern (VOCs) were also monitored. The emergence of the Alpha variant on campus was identified, which contributed to the second wave of COVID-19 cases at UofSC. The study was able to identify sub-community transmission hotspots for targeted intervention in real-time, making WBE cost-effective and creating less of a burden on the general public compared to repeated individual testing methods.
南卡罗来纳大学 (UofSC) 是最早将建筑级别的 SARS-CoV-2 污水监测纳入其在 2020 年秋季重新开放期间临床检测的大学之一。在 2021 年春季学期，从 10 个宿舍和校园内学生隔离和检疫大楼每周两次采集 24 小时混合污水样本。隔离和检疫大楼作为阳性对照点。使用 RT-ddPCR 分析污水，以定量核算基因 (N1 和 N2)，以确定宿舍内的病毒传播趋势。将 SARS-CoV-2 RNA 浓度的对数与收集污水后几天内新发现的临床病例以及在样本收集前几天返回现场的康复病例进行比较，以测试时间和空间关联。在污水采样后七天内从现场报告的病例数与 log 病毒 RNA 拷贝数/L 之间存在统计学上显著的正相关关系（总体相对危险度 1.08（1.02，1.16），p 值 0.0126）。此外，在污水采样前七天内完成隔离后返回宿舍的病例数与 log 病毒 RNA 拷贝数/L 之间也存在统计学上显著的正相关关系（总体 1.09（1.01，1.17），p 值 0.0222）。污水中 log 病毒 RNA 拷贝数/L 上确定的病例和康复返回病例的统计学意义表明，在污水基流行病学 (WBE) 研究中包括这两种类型的临床数据的重要性。还监测了与关注变异株 (VOCs) 相关的基因突变。校园内出现了 Alpha 变异株，这导致了 UofSC 第二波 COVID-19 病例。该研究能够实时识别亚社区传播热点，以便进行有针对性的干预，与重复的个体测试方法相比，WBE 具有成本效益，并且对公众的负担较小。
