Longitudinal wastewater sampling during the COVID-19 pandemic was an important aspect of disease surveillance, adding to a more complete understanding of infection dynamics and providing important data for community public health monitoring and intervention planning. This was largely accomplished by testing SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in samples from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). We evaluated the utility of testing for virus levels upstream from WWTP within the residential neighborhoods that feed into the WWTP. We propose that monitoring virus dynamics across residential neighborhoods could reveal important public health-relevant information about community sub-group heterogeneity in virus concentrations. PRINCIPAL RESULTS: Virus concentration patterns display heterogeneity within neighborhoods and between neighborhoods over time. Sewage SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations as measured by RT-qPCR also corresponded closely to verified COVID-19 infection counts within individual neighborhoods. More importantly, our data suggest the loss of disease-relevant public health information when sampling occurs only at the level of WWTP instead of upstream in neighborhoods. Spikes in SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in neighborhoods are often masked by dilution from other neighborhoods in the WWTP samples. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) employed at WWTP reliably detects SARS-CoV-2 in a city-sized population but provides less actionable public health information about neighborhoods experiencing greater viral infection and disease. Neighborhood sewershed sampling reveals important population-based information about local virus dynamics and improves opportunities for public health intervention. Longitudinally employed, neighborhood sewershed surveillance may provide a 3-6 day early warning of SARS-CoV-2 infection spikes and, importantly, highly specific information on subpopulations in a community particularly at higher risk at different points in time. Sampling in neighborhoods may thus provide timely and cost-saving information for targeted interventions within communities.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172021 | DOI Listing |
Emerg Microbes Infect
January 2025
Institute for Medical Virology, Goethe University, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Viremia defined as detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the blood is a potential marker of disease severity and prognosis in COVID-19 patients. Here, we determined the frequency of viremia in serum of two independent COVID-19 patient cohorts within the German National Pandemic Cohort Network (German: tionales andemie horten etzwerk, NAPKON) with diagnostic RT-PCR against SARS-CoV-2. A cross-sectional cohort with 1,122 COVID-19 patients (German: , SUEP) and 299 patients recruited in a high-resolution platform with patients at high risk to develop severe courses (German: , HAP) were tested for viremia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPNAS Nexus
January 2025
Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Here, we present Link-Seq, a highly efficient droplet microfluidic method for combined sequencing of antibody-encoding genes and the transcriptome of individual B cells at large scale. The method is based on 3' barcoding of the transcriptome and subsequent single-molecule PCR in droplets, which freely shift the barcode along specific gene regions, such as the antibody heavy- and light-chain genes. Using the immune repertoire of COVID-19 patients and healthy donors as a model system, we obtain up to 91.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOVID-19 vaccination is the most effective strategy for preventing severe disease and death. Inactivated vaccines are the most accessible type of COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries. Several studies, including work from our group, have demonstrated that the third dose (booster vaccination) of inactivated COVID-19 vaccine induces robust humoral and cellular immune responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochemistry (Mosc)
December 2024
National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute", Moscow, 123182, Russia.
Bacterial and viral RNA polymerases are promising targets for the development of new transcription inhibitors. One of the potential blockers of RNA synthesis is 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-1,-ethenoadenine (oxo-εA), a synthetic compound that combines two adenine modifications: 8-oxoadenine and 1,-ethenoadenine. In this study, we synthesized oxo-εA triphosphate (oxo-εATP) and showed that it could be incorporated by the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2 into synthesized RNA opposite template residues A and G in the presence of Mn ions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Infect Dev Ctries
December 2024
Federal University of São João Del Rei, Dona Lindu Campus, Sebastião Gonçalves Coelho Street, 400, Chanadour, 35501-296 Divinópolis, MG, Brazil.
Introduction: We assessed the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and associated socio-occupational factors among delivery riders from a Brazilian city at two time points during the pandemic.
Methodology: Surveys for antibody and viral RNA testing were conducted from November 2020 to January 2021, and from March to May 2021 in a group of 117 delivery riders. A questionnaire on socio-occupational characteristics and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) preventive measures was completed.
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