Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2024 Apr 17;90(4):e0227223. doi: 10.1128/aem.02272-23. Epub 2024 Mar 19.
Wastewater-based epidemiology has emerged as a valuable tool for monitoring respiratory viral diseases within communities by analyzing concentrations of viral nucleic-acids in wastewater. However, little is known about the fate of respiratory virus nucleic-acids in wastewater. Two important fate processes that may modulate their concentrations in wastewater as they move from household drains to the point of collection include sorption or partitioning to wastewater solids and degradation. This study investigated the decay kinetics of genomic nucleic-acids of seven human respiratory viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human coronavirus (HCoV)-OC43, HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63, human rhinovirus (HRV), and influenza A virus (IAV), as well as pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) in wastewater solids. Viruses (except for PMMoV) were spiked into wastewater solids and their concentrations were followed for 50 days at three different temperatures (4°C, 22°C, and 37°C). Viral genomic RNA decayed following first-order kinetics with decay rate constants from 0 to 0.219 per day. Decay rate constants were not different from 0 for all targets in solids incubated at 4°C; values were largest at 37°C and at this temperature, values were similar across nucleic-acid targets. Regardless of temperature, there was limited viral RNA decay, with an estimated 0% to 20% reduction, over the typical residence times of sewage in the piped systems between input and collection point (<1 day). The values reported herein can be used directly in fate and transport models to inform the interpretation of measurements made during wastewater surveillance.IMPORTANCEUnderstanding whether or not the RNA targets quantified for wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) efforts decay during transport between drains and the point of sample collection is critical for data interpretation. Here we show limited decay of viral RNA targets typically measured for respiratory disease WBE.
污水流行病学已成为一种通过分析污水中病毒核酸浓度来监测社区内呼吸道病毒疾病的有价值工具。然而，对于呼吸道病毒核酸在污水中的命运知之甚少。两个重要的命运过程可能会影响它们从家庭排水道到收集点的浓度，包括吸附或分配到污水固体和降解。本研究调查了七种人类呼吸道病毒的基因组核酸的衰减动力学，包括严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）、呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）、人类冠状病毒（HCoV）-OC43、HCoV-229E、HCoV-NL63、人类鼻病毒（HRV）和流感 A 病毒（IAV），以及辣椒斑驳病毒（PMMoV）在污水固体中的衰减动力学。将病毒（除了 PMMoV 之外）加入到污水固体中，并在三个不同温度（4°C、22°C 和 37°C）下跟踪其浓度 50 天。病毒基因组 RNA 遵循一级动力学衰减，衰减速率常数 为每天 0 到 0.219。在 4°C 孵育的固体中，所有靶标都没有观察到 为 0 的衰减率常数；在 37°C 时 值最大，在该温度下，核酸靶标之间的 值相似。无论温度如何，在污水在管道系统中从输入点到收集点的典型停留时间（<1 天）内，病毒 RNA 衰减有限，估计减少 0%到 20%。本文报道的 值可直接用于命运和传输模型，以解释在污水监测期间进行的测量的解释。
重要性
了解污水流行病学（WBE）工作中定量的 RNA 靶标在排水道和采样点之间的运输过程中是否衰减对于数据解释至关重要。在这里，我们显示出通常用于呼吸道疾病 WBE 的病毒 RNA 靶标的有限衰减。
