Epidemiological surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 by genome quantification in wastewater applied to a city in the northeast of France: comparison of ultrafiltration- and protein precipitation-based methods
Type | Article | ||||||||||||
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Date | 2021-04 | ||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||
Author(s) | Bertrand Isabelle![]() |
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Contributor(s) | Le Guyader Soizick | ||||||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Université de Lorraine, CNRS, LCPME, F-54000, Nancy, France 2 : Laboratoire de Virologie, CHRU de Nancy Brabois, F-54500, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France 3 : EPHE, PSL, UMR CNRS 7564, LCPME, F-54000, Nancy, France 4 : SUEZ, CIRSEE, 38 rue du Président Wilson, F-78230 Le Pecq, France |
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Source | International Journal Of Hygiene And Environmental Health (1438-4639) (Elsevier BV), 2021-04 , Vol. 233 , P. 113692 (7p.) | ||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113692 | ||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 30 | ||||||||||||
Keyword(s) | SARS-CoV-2, Wastewater, Concentration methods, Prevalence | ||||||||||||
Abstract | The aim of the present study was to develop a simple, sensitive, and specific approach to quantifying the SARS-CoV-2 genome in wastewater and to evaluate this approach as a means of epidemiological surveillance. Twelve wastewater samples were collected from a metropolitan area in north-eastern France during April and May 2020. In addition to the quantification of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, F-specific RNA phages of genogroup II (FRNAPH GGII), naturally present in wastewater, were used as an internal process control for the viral concentration and processing of RT-PCR inhibitors. A concentration method was required to allow the quantification of the SARS-CoV-2 genome over the longest possible period. A procedure combining ultrafiltration, phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol purification, and the additional purification of the RNA extracts was chosen for the quantification of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in 100-mL wastewater samples. At the same time, the COVID-19 outbreak was evaluated through patients from the neighbouring University Hospital of Nancy, France. A regular decrease in the concentration of the SARS-CoV-2 genome from ∼104 gc/L to ∼102 gc/L of wastewater was observed over the eight weeks of the study, during which the population was placed under lockdown. The SARS-CoV-2 genome was even undetectable during one week in the second half of May and present but non-quantifiable in the last sample (28 May). A concordant circulation in the human community was highlighted by virological diagnosis using respiratory samples, which showed a decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases from 677 to 52 per week over the same period. The environmental surveillance of COVID-19 using a reliable viral quantification procedure to test wastewater is a key approach. The real-time detection of viral genomes can allow us to predict and monitor the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical settings and survey the entire urban human population. |
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