Corpuz Mary Vermi Aizza, Buonerba Antonio, Zarra Tiziano, Hasan Shadi W, Korshin Gregory V, Belgiorno Vincenzo, Naddeo Vincenzo
Environmental Engineering Program, National Graduate School of Engineering, University of the Philippines, 1101 Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.
Department of Chemistry and Biology "Adolfo Zambelli", University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II-132, 84084, Fisciano, Italy.
Case Stud Chem Environ Eng. 2022 Dec;6:100238. doi: 10.1016/j.cscee.2022.100238. Epub 2022 Jul 31.
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a powerful tool that has the potential to reveal the extent of an ongoing disease outbreak or to predict an emerging one. Recent studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater may be correlated with the number of COVID-19 cases in the corresponding population. Most of the recent studies and applications of wastewater-based surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 applied the "gold standard" real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) detection method. However, this method also has its limitations. The paper aimed to present recent improvements and applications of the PCR-based methods for SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in wastewater. Furthermore, it aimed to review alternative methods utilized and/or proposed for the detection of the virus in wastewater matrices. From the review, it was found that several studies have investigated the use of reverse-transcription digital polymerase reaction (RT-dPCR), which was generally shown to have a lower limit of detection (LOD) over the RT-qPCR. Aside from this, non-PCR-based and non-RNA based methods have also been explored for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, with detailed attention given to the detection of SARS-CoV-2 proteins. The potential methods for protein detection include mass spectrometry, the use of immunosensors, and nanotechnological applications. In addition, the review of recent studies also revealed two types of emerging methods related to the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater: capsid-integrity assays to infer about the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 present in wastewater, and alternative methods for detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) in wastewater. The recent studies on proposed methods of SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater have considered improving this approach in one or more of the following aspects: rapidity, simplicity, cost, sensitivity, and specificity. However, further studies are needed in order to realize the full application of these methods for WBE in the field.
基于废水的流行病学（WBE）是一种强大的工具，有潜力揭示正在发生的疾病爆发的程度或预测新出现的疾病爆发。最近的研究表明，废水中的SARS-CoV-2浓度可能与相应人群中的COVID-19病例数相关。最近大多数基于废水的SARS-CoV-2监测研究和应用都采用了“金标准”实时定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）检测方法。然而，这种方法也有其局限性。本文旨在介绍基于PCR的方法在废水中监测SARS-CoV-2的最新改进和应用。此外，旨在综述用于检测废水中病毒的其他方法。通过综述发现，一些研究调查了逆转录数字聚合酶反应（RT-dPCR）的使用，总体而言，其检测限低于RT-qPCR。除此之外，还探索了基于非PCR和非RNA的方法来检测废水中的SARS-CoV-2，并特别关注了SARS-CoV-2蛋白的检测。蛋白质检测的潜在方法包括质谱分析、免疫传感器的使用和纳米技术应用。此外，对近期研究的综述还揭示了与废水中SARS-CoV-2检测相关的两种新兴方法：用于推断废水中SARS-CoV-2传染性的衣壳完整性检测，以及用于检测废水中关注的SARS-CoV-2变异株（VOC）的替代方法。最近关于废水中SARS-CoV-2检测方法的研究考虑在以下一个或多个方面改进这种方法：快速性、简便性、成本、灵敏度和特异性。然而，为了实现这些方法在该领域基于废水的流行病学中的全面应用，还需要进一步的研究。
