TY - JOUR
T1 - Tracking COVID-19 with wastewater to understand asymptomatic transmission
AU - Wannigama, Dhammika Leshan
AU - Amarasiri, Mohan
AU - Hurst, Cameron
AU - Phattharapornjaroen, Phatthranit
AU - Abe, Shuichi
AU - Hongsing, Parichart
AU - Rad, S. M.Ali Hosseini
AU - Pearson, Lachlan
AU - Saethang, Thammakorn
AU - Luk-in, Sirirat
AU - Kueakulpattana, Naris
AU - Storer, Robin James
AU - Ounjai, Puey
AU - Jacquet, Alain
AU - Leelahavanichkul, Asada
AU - Chatsuwan, Tanittha
N1 - Funding Information:
Dhammika Leshan Wannigama was supported by Chulalongkorn University (Second Century Fund ? C2F Postdoctoral Fellowship), and the University of Western Australia (Overseas Research Experience Fellowship).
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 RNA is excreted in feces of most patients, therefore viral load in wastewater can be used as a surveillance tool to develop an early warning system to help and manage future pandemics. Methods: We collected wastewater from 24 random locations at Bangkok city center and 26 nearby suburbs from July to December 2020. SARS-CoV-2 RNA copy numbers were measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in wastewater from both the city center and suburbs. Except for July, there were no significant differences in copy numbers between the city center and suburbs. Between October and November, a sharp rise in copy number was observed in both places followed by two to three times increase in December, related to SARS-CoV-2 cases reported for same month. Conclusions: Our study provided the first dataset related to SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in the wastewater of Bangkok. Our results suggest that wastewater could be used as a complementary source for detecting viral RNA and predicting upcoming outbreaks and waves.
AB - Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 RNA is excreted in feces of most patients, therefore viral load in wastewater can be used as a surveillance tool to develop an early warning system to help and manage future pandemics. Methods: We collected wastewater from 24 random locations at Bangkok city center and 26 nearby suburbs from July to December 2020. SARS-CoV-2 RNA copy numbers were measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in wastewater from both the city center and suburbs. Except for July, there were no significant differences in copy numbers between the city center and suburbs. Between October and November, a sharp rise in copy number was observed in both places followed by two to three times increase in December, related to SARS-CoV-2 cases reported for same month. Conclusions: Our study provided the first dataset related to SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in the wastewater of Bangkok. Our results suggest that wastewater could be used as a complementary source for detecting viral RNA and predicting upcoming outbreaks and waves.
KW - Asymptomatic transmission
KW - COVID-19
KW - SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater
KW - SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA
KW - Wastewater
KW - Wastewater of Bangkok
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107908291&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.05.005
DO - 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.05.005
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 33989774
AN - SCOPUS:85107908291
VL - 108
SP - 296
EP - 299
JO - International Journal of Infectious Diseases
JF - International Journal of Infectious Diseases
SN - 1201-9712
ER -