Quantifying the Relationship between SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Concentrations and Building-Level COVID-19 Prevalence at...

Area of Science:

• Environmental science
• Public health
• Molecular biology

Background:

• SARS-CoV-2 RNA is detectable in excreta, correlating with infection trends.
• Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a global public health surveillance tool for monitoring community infections.
• Traditional sampling methods like autosamplers and grab samples have limitations (cost, maintenance, temporal variation).

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate tampons as a passive, affordable, and scalable sampling system for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.
• To assess the feasibility of using tampons for building-level public health surveillance.

Main Methods:

• Tampons were deployed as passive samplers in the sewer line of a COVID-19 isolation unit for 24-hour periods.
• Samples were collected 3-5 times weekly between February and May 2021.
• SARS-CoV-2 RNA was quantified using RT-qPCR targeting N1 and N2 gene fragments.

Main Results:

• SARS-CoV-2 RNA was successfully detected and quantified in tampon samples.
• Two distinct laboratory processing pipelines yielded highly correlated N2 concentrations.
• The study provided a baseline estimate of viral shedding and its association with the number of individuals.

Conclusions:

• Tampons serve as a successful passive sampling method for capturing SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.
• This approach can inform building-level public health responses by providing reliable wastewater surveillance data.
• Passive sampling with tampons presents a practical and scalable alternative for WBE.