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Wastewater Surveillance Provides Spatiotemporal SARS-CoV-2 Infection Dynamics

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  • a Environmental Microbiome Engineering and Biotechnology Lab, Center for Environmental Engineering Research, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong 999077, China
    b WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Sassoon Road, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong 999077, China
    c Laboratory of Data Discovery for Health Limited (D24H), Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong 999077, China
    d The University of Hong Kong–Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Hong Kong 999077, China
    e School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Sassoon Road, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong 999077, China
    f HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, The University of Hong Kong, Sassoon Road, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong 999077, China
    g Drainage Services Department, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong 999077, China
    h Environmental Protection Department, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong 999077, China
    i The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong 999077, China

Abstract

Wastewater surveillance can leverage its wide coverage, population-based sampling, and high monitoring frequency to capture citywide pandemic trends independent of clinical surveillance. Here we conducted a 9-month daily wastewater surveillance for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from 12 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), covering approximately 80% of the population, to monitor infection dynamics in Hong Kong. We found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus concentration in wastewater was correlated with the daily number of reported cases and reached two pandemic peaks three days earlier during the study period. In addition, two different methods were established to estimate the prevalence/incidence rates from wastewater measurements. The estimated results from wastewater were consistent with findings from two independent citywide clinical surveillance programmes (rapid antigen test (RAT) surveillance and serology surveillance), but higher than the cases number reported by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of Hong Kong. Moreover, the effective reproductive number (Rt) was estimated from wastewater measurements to reflect both citywide and regional transmission dynamics. Our findings demonstrate that large-scale intensive wastewater surveillance from WWTPs provides cost-effective and timely public health information, especially when the clinical surveillance is inadequate and costly. This approach also provides insights into pandemic dynamics at higher spatiotemporal resolutions, facilitating the formulation of effective control policies and targeted resource allocation.

Cite this article

Xiawan Zheng,Kathy Leung,Xiaoqing Xu,Yu Deng,Yulin Zhang,Xi Chen,Chung In Yau,Kenny WK Hui,Eddie Pak,Ho-Kwong Chui,Ron Yang,Hein Min Tun,Gabriel M. Leung,Joseph T. Wu,Malik Peiris,Leo L.M. Poon,Tong Zhang, . Wastewater Surveillance Provides Spatiotemporal SARS-CoV-2 Infection Dynamics[J]. Engineering, : 0 -0 . DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2024.01.016

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