Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA.
Institute for Therapeutic Innovation, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Feb 20;912:169456. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169456. Epub 2023 Dec 18.
Environmental testing of high-touch objects is a potential noninvasive approach for monitoring population-level trends of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses within a defined setting. We aimed to determine the association between SARS-CoV-2 contamination on high-touch environmental surfaces, community level case incidence, and university student health data. Environmental swabs were collected from January 2022 to November 2022 from high-touch objects and surfaces from five locations on a large university campus in Florida, USA. RT-qPCR was used to detect and quantify viral RNA, and a subset of positive samples was analyzed by viral genome sequencing to identify circulating lineages. During the study period, we detected SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA on 90.7 % of 162 tested samples. Levels of environmental viral RNA correlated with trends in community-level activity and case reports from the student health center. A significant positive correlation was observed between the estimated viral gene copy number in environmental samples and the weekly confirmed cases at the university. Viral sequencing data from environmental samples identified lineages concurrently circulating in the local community and state based on genomic surveillance data. Further, we detected emerging variants in environmental samples prior to their identification by clinical genomic surveillance. Our results demonstrate the utility of viral monitoring on high-touch environmental surfaces for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance at a community level. In communities with delayed or limited testing facilities, immediate environmental surface testing may considerably inform epidemic dynamics.
对高接触物体进行环境检测是一种潜在的非侵入性方法，可以在特定环境中监测 SARS-CoV-2 和其他呼吸道病毒的人群水平趋势。我们旨在确定高接触环境表面上的 SARS-CoV-2 污染与社区水平病例发生率以及大学生健康数据之间的关联。我们从 2022 年 1 月至 2022 年 11 月，从美国佛罗里达州一所大型大学校园的五个地点的高接触物体和表面采集环境拭子。使用 RT-qPCR 检测和定量病毒 RNA，对一部分阳性样本进行病毒基因组测序分析，以鉴定循环谱系。在研究期间，我们在 162 个测试样本中的 90.7%检测到 SARS-CoV-2 病毒 RNA。环境病毒 RNA 水平与社区水平活动和学生健康中心的病例报告趋势相关。在环境样本中估计的病毒基因拷贝数与大学每周确诊病例之间存在显著正相关。环境样本的病毒测序数据根据基于基因组监测数据的当地社区和州的流行谱系进行了鉴定。此外，我们在临床基因组监测之前，从环境样本中检测到了新兴变体。我们的结果表明，对高接触环境表面的病毒监测可用于社区层面的 SARS-CoV-2 监测。在检测设施延迟或有限的社区中，立即对环境表面进行检测可能会极大地了解疫情动态。
