Environmental Surveillance of Human Parechoviruses in Sewage in the Netherlands

Abstract

The circulation of human parechoviruses (HPeVs) in the population was studied by environmental surveillance comprising of molecular analyses of sewage samples (n ‫؍‬ 89) that were collected from 15 different locations in the Netherlands. Samples were taken from sewage originating from schools (n ‫؍‬ 9) or from parts of municipalities (n ‫؍‬ 6) during the Dutch school year 2010-2011. At 13/15 locations HPeV1, HPeV3, or HPeV6 RNA was detected at least once; however, sequence diversity did not reflect associations in time or place. A higher percentage of positives was observed in the samples originating from the municipalities. It was demonstrated that HPeV circulated in the studied population to a higher extent than would be expected from the current knowledge on infections predominating in young children.

Global Occurrence and Emission of Rotaviruses to Surface Waters

“…The population excretion rate may also be estimated via sewage surveillance. Surveillance data of RV in sewage reflect RV shedding in the community and has been used to study the circulation of RV and other enteric viruses in the population [ 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 ]. Where sewage surveillance produces quantitative data on virus concentration (dynamics) in sewage, these data can be used to estimate RV shedding rates in the population.…”

Monitoring human enteric viruses in wastewater and relevance to infections encountered in the clinical setting: a one-year experiment in central France, 2014 to 2015

“…PeV infections, often clinically indistinguishable from EV infections, are increasingly identified but their burden is probably underestimated. Two previous European studies reported their presence in raw wastewater at different sampling points in the Netherlands [ 34 ] and in solid waste samples in Edinburgh, Scotland [ 35 ] ( Table 3 ). We found a positive detection rate of 100% and 44% in raw and treated wastewaters, respectively, indicative of sustained viral circulation in the local community.…”

Detection of Human Parechoviruses in Clinical and Municipal Wastewater Samples in Miyagi, Japan, in 2012–2014

“…High detection frequencies (41-78z) and high nucleotide sequence diversity of HPeVs in wastewater samples suggest that analysis of wastewater is a practical approach to detection and research on this virus (13,14). In contrast, lower detection frequencies (2.2-7.4z) have been reported for the stool samples collected from patients with suspected viral infections (3,5).…”

“…Environmental surveillance, either alone or with clinical analyses, has been conducted to better understand the epidemiology of HPeV infections (13,14). High detection frequencies (41-78z) and high nucleotide sequence diversity of HPeVs in wastewater samples suggest that analysis of wastewater is a practical approach to detection and research on this virus (13,14).…”

“…In contrast, lower detection frequencies (2.2-7.4z) have been reported for the stool samples collected from patients with suspected viral infections (3,5). Nonetheless, the burden of HPeV diseases may be underestimated (13,14) because sero-epidemiological studies revealed that more than a half of infants aged 7-11 months have a neutralizing antibody against HPeV1 (15), and the seroprevalence increases rapidly with age, reaching 97-100z among adults (16,17). As for HPeV3, more than 80z of individuals over 30 years of age have the neutralizing antibody (6).…”