SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance in the Czech Republic: Spatial and temporal differences in SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations and relationship to clinical data and wastewater parameters.

This study presents the results of systematic wastewater monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and basic wastewater parameters from four different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Czech Republic over the 2020-2022 epidemic. Two-step reverse-transcription quantitative PCR targeting genes encoding the N and Nsp12 proteins was employed to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA loading in 420 wastewater samples. The results obtained were used to evaluate the potential of wastewater analysis for describing the epidemiological situation in cities of different sizes and determining temporal differences based on the prevailing SARS-CoV-2 variant.

Making Waves: Collaboration in the time of SARS-CoV-2 - rapid development of an international co-operation and wastewater surveillance database to support public health decision-making.

The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater was first reported in March 2020. Over the subsequent months, the potential for wastewater surveillance to contribute to COVID-19 mitigation programmes has been the focus of intense national and international research activities, gaining the attention of policy makers and the public. As a new application of an established methodology, focused collaboration between public health practitioners and wastewater researchers is essential to developing a common understanding on how, when and where the outputs of this non-invasive community-level approach can deliver actionable outcomes for public health authorities.

Preliminary Study of Sars-Cov-2 Occurrence in Wastewater in the Czech Republic.

The virus SARS-CoV-2, which has caused the recent COVID-19 pandemic, may be present in the stools of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, we aimed to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater for surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in the population. Samples of untreated wastewater were collected from 33 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of different sizes within the Czech Republic.

Drugs of abuse in wastewater and suspended particulate matter--further developments in sewage epidemiology.

This manuscript reports, for the first time, a monitoring study analysing wastewater and associated suspended particulate matter (SPM) to determine the concentration of drugs of abuse and metabolites in wastewater influent. The monitoring of SPM is crucial for target analytes because, depending on their physico-chemical properties, they may partition to particulates; thus, analysis of wastewater only will result in under-reporting of the concentration of target analytes in the sample. A daily one week monitoring study was carried out at a WWTP serving one of the largest cities in the Czech Republic; representing the first comprehensive application of the sewage epidemiology approach in the Czech Republic.

Application of different extraction methods for the determination of selected pesticide residues in sediments.

Using several extraction methods including the QuEChERS approach, samples of both model and natural sediments were prepared. For the isolation of the target group of pesticides, two variants of two complementary extractions had to be used. Resulting extracts were analysed with LC/MS/MS.