Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Clinical Microbiology, Region Västra Götaland, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Oct 15;895:165012. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165012. Epub 2023 Jun 22.
The quantification of viral genomes in wastewater reflects the prevalence of viral infections within the community. Knowledge of how the spread of common enteric viruses in the community was affected by the Swedish COVID-19 interventions is limited. To investigate this, the weekly wastewater samples collected for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 throughout the COVID-19 pandemic at the Rya sewage treatment plant in Gothenburg were also analyzed for adenovirus, norovirus GII, astrovirus, and rotavirus. The amount of each viral genome was quantified by real-time-qPCR and compared with the quantity of these viral genomes in wastewater from 2017. The results showed that the winter seasonality of norovirus GII and rotavirus in wastewater observed in 2017 was interrupted shortly after the introduction of the COVID-19 interventions, and they remained at low level throughout the pandemic. The circulation pattern of astrovirus and adenovirus was less affected. When the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in 2022, a dramatic increase was observed in the amount of norovirus GII, rotavirus, and adenovirus genomes in wastewater. The changes in abundance and seasonality of some viruses identified through wastewater monitoring were consistent with changes in the number of patients diagnosed with these viruses. These findings suggest that moderate intervention to prevent COVID-19 significantly reduced the spread of some enteric viruses in the community. The results show that wastewater monitoring is a valuable tool for detecting the spread and outbreaks of viral infections that may cause gastroenteritis also when people do not seek medical help, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.
污水中的病毒基因组定量反映了社区内病毒感染的流行情况。关于社区中常见肠道病毒的传播如何受到瑞典 COVID-19 干预措施的影响，我们知之甚少。为此，我们还分析了哥德堡 Rya 污水处理厂在整个 COVID-19 大流行期间每周为监测 SARS-CoV-2 而收集的污水中的腺病毒、诺如病毒 GII、星状病毒和轮状病毒。通过实时 qPCR 对每种病毒基因组的数量进行定量，并将其与 2017 年污水中这些病毒基因组的数量进行比较。结果表明，2017 年污水中观察到的诺如病毒 GII 和轮状病毒的冬季季节性在 COVID-19 干预措施实施后不久就被打断了，并且整个大流行期间它们一直处于低水平。星状病毒和腺病毒的循环模式受影响较小。当 2022 年 COVID-19 限制解除时，污水中诺如病毒 GII、轮状病毒和腺病毒基因组的数量急剧增加。通过污水监测发现的一些病毒丰度和季节性变化与这些病毒患者数量的变化一致。这些发现表明，预防 COVID-19 的适度干预措施显著减少了社区中一些肠道病毒的传播。研究结果表明，污水监测是一种非常有价值的工具，可用于检测病毒感染的传播和暴发，即使在人们没有寻求医疗帮助的情况下（例如在 COVID-19 大流行期间），也可以检测到可能导致肠胃炎的病毒感染。
