1. Scaling of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Settled Solids from Multiple Wastewater Treatment Plants to Compare Incidence Rates of Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 in Their Sewersheds
- Author
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Mhara M. Coffman, Duc J. Vugia, Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong, Alexandria B. Boehm, Samuel Dorevich, Winnie Zambrana, Lorelay M. Mendoza Grijalva, Katherine E. Graham, Laura Roldan-Hernandez, David Catoe, Marlene K. Wolfe, Andrea I. Silverman, Sooyeol Kim, Alexander T. Yu, Anand Archana, and Krista R. Wigginton
- Subjects
0303 health sciences ,Veterinary medicine ,East coast ,Ecology ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,030306 microbiology ,Relative incidence ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,Incidence (epidemiology) ,RNA ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Pollution ,Article ,03 medical and health sciences ,Environmental Chemistry ,Environmental science ,Sewage treatment ,Waste Management and Disposal ,U s population ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Water Science and Technology - Abstract
Published and unpublished reports show that SARS-CoV-2 RNA in publicly owned treatment work (POTW) wastewater influent and solids is associated with new COVID-19 cases or incidence in associated sewersheds, but methods for comparing data collected from diverse POTWs to infer information about the relative incidence of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, and scaling to allow such comparisons, have not been previously established Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 N1 and N2 concentrations in solids normalized by concentrations of PMMoV RNA in solids can be used to compare incidence of laboratory confirmed new COVID-19 cases across POTWs Using data collected at seven POTWs along the United States West Coast, Midwest, and East Coast serving ∼3% of the U S population (9 million people), we show that a 1 log change in N gene/PMMoV is associated with a 0 24 (range 0 19 to 0 29) log10 change in incidence of laboratory confirmed COVID-19 Scaling of N1 and N2 by PMMoV is consistent, conceptually, with a mass balance model relating SARS-CoV-2 RNA to the number of infected individuals shedding virus in their stool This information should support the application of wastewater-based epidemiology to inform the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and potentially future viral pandemics ©
- Published
- 2021