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Publications

Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Ppublish 21 citations

PubMed: 36579780 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.28442

Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 and its variants in wastewater of tertiary care hospitals correlates with increasing case burden and outbreaks.

J Med Virol 95(2):e28442

Authors: Nicole Acosta, Maria A Bautista, Barbara J Waddell, Kristine Du, Janine McCalder, Puja Pradhan, Navid Sedaghat, Chloe Papparis, Alexander Buchner Beaudet, Jianwei Chen, Jennifer Van Doorn, Kevin Xiang, Leslie Chan, Laura Vivas, Kashtin Low, Xuewen Lu, Jangwoo Lee, Paul Westlund, Thierry Chekouo, Xiaotian Dai, Jason Cabaj, Srijak Bhatnagar, Norma Ruecker, Gopal Achari, Rhonda G Clark, Craig Pearce, Joe J Harrison, Jon Meddings, Jenine Leal, Jennifer Ellison, Bayan Missaghi, Jamil N Kanji, Oscar Larios, Elissa Rennert-May, Joseph Kim, Steve E Hrudey, Bonita E Lee, Xiaoli Pang, Kevin Frankowski, John Conly, Casey R J Hubert, Michael D Parkins

Affiliations

  • Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
  • Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
  • Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
  • C.E.C. Analytics Ltd. Calgary, Canada.
  • Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
  • Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
  • Department of Medicine, University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada.
  • Provincial Population & Public Health, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada.
  • O'Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
  • Faculty of Science and Technology, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Alberta, Canada.
  • Water Services, City of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
  • Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
  • Infection Prevention and Control, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada.
  • Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada.
  • Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
  • Alberta Precision Laboratories, Public Health Laboratory, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
  • Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada.
  • Department of Analytical and Environmental Toxicology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
  • Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
  • Women & Children's Health Research Institute, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
  • Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
  • Advancing Canadian Water Assets, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.

Abstract

Wastewater-based SARS-CoV-2 surveillance enables unbiased and comprehensive monitoring of defined sewersheds. We performed real-time monitoring of hospital wastewater that differentiated Delta and Omicron variants within total SARS-CoV-2-RNA, enabling correlation to COVID-19 cases from three tertiary-care facilities with >2100 inpatient beds in Calgary, Canada. RNA was extracted from hospital wastewater between August/2021 and January/2022, and SARS-CoV-2 quantified using RT-qPCR. Assays targeting R203M and R203K/G204R established the proportional abundance of Delta and Omicron, respectively. Total and variant-specific SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater was compared to data for variant specific COVID-19 hospitalizations, hospital-acquired infections, and outbreaks. Ninety-six percent (188/196) of wastewater samples were SARS-CoV-2 positive. Total SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in wastewater increased in tandem with total prevalent cases (Delta plus Omicron). Variant-specific assessments showed this increase to be mainly driven by Omicron. Hospital-acquired cases of COVID-19 were associated with large spikes in wastewater SARS-CoV-2 and levels were significantly increased during outbreaks relative to nonoutbreak periods for total SARS-CoV2, Delta and Omicron. SARS-CoV-2 in hospital wastewater was significantly higher during the Omicron-wave irrespective of outbreaks. Wastewater-based monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants represents a novel tool for passive COVID-19 infection surveillance, case identification, containment, and potentially to mitigate viral spread in hospitals.

MeSH

Infections, Rna, Virology, Disease Outbreaks, Sars Virus, Tertiary Healthcare, Covid-19, Sars-Cov-2

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