COVID-19 surveillance in wastewater: An epidemiological tool for the monitoring of SARS-CoV-2

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Jan 5:12:978643. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.978643. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted a lot of questions globally regarding the range of information about the virus's possible routes of transmission, diagnostics, and therapeutic tools. Worldwide studies have pointed out the importance of monitoring and early surveillance techniques based on the identification of viral RNA in wastewater. These studies indicated the presence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in human feces, which is shed via excreta including mucus, feces, saliva, and sputum. Subsequently, they get dumped into wastewater, and their presence in wastewater provides a possibility of using it as a tool to help prevent and eradicate the virus. Its monitoring is still done in many regions worldwide and serves as an early "warning signal"; however, a lot of limitations of wastewater surveillance have also been identified.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; COVID-19 surveillance system; early warning system; point-of-care diagnostics; wastewater surveillance.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • RNA, Viral
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Wastewater
  • Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Monitoring

Substances

  • Wastewater
  • RNA, Viral

Grants and funding

GY is grateful to the Alexander - von - Humboldt Foundation (AVH) for granting the Return Fellowship EGY 1194703 GF - P.