Presence and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in aquatic environments: A mini-review

Mahlknecht, Jürgen

doi:10.1016/j.coesh.2022.100385

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Therefore, bacteriophage Phi6 significantly overestimated the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in mineral water. The decay rates reported here for both viruses, Phi6 and SARS-CoV-2, fall within the range of data reported elsewhere ( 35 , 43 ). The time taken to achieve a 90% reduction ( ) for SARS-CoV-2 in mineral water was 43 hours.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and its surrogate, bacteriophage Phi6, on surfaces and in water

Pitol,

Venkatesan,

Hoptroff

et al. 2023

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The COVID-19 pandemic spurred research on the persistence of infectious SARS-CoV-2 and its surrogates, including bacteriophage Phi6, in environmental reservoirs. Despite the wide use of Phi6, side-by-side comparisons between Phi6 and SARS-CoV-2 are limited. Here, we quantified the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and Phi6 on surfaces (PVC plastic and stainless steel), using an initial inoculum of 10 3 plaque forming unit per surface, and evaluated the influence of four commonly used deposition solutions on viral persistence. In addition, we quantified the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and Phi6 in water. Our findings revealed that Phi6 had a significantly longer half-life than SARS-CoV-2 in water and on surfaces. Phi6 persisted 34 hours in water compared with 13 hours for SARS-CoV-2. Viral persistence on surfaces was significantly influenced by the virus used and the deposition solution but not by the surface material. Phi6 remained infectious significantly longer than SARS-CoV-2 when the inoculation solution was culture media and saliva, leading to half-lives between 9 hours and 2 weeks for Phi6, compared to 0.5–2 hours for SARS-CoV-2. Using phosphate-buffered saline as a deposition solution led to half-lives shorter than 4 hours for both viruses on all surfaces. Our results indicate that bacteriophage Phi6 may lead to an overestimate of infectiousness for studies quantifying SARS-CoV-2 persistence on surfaces and water and highlight the importance of using appropriate deposition solutions when evaluating viral persistence on surfaces. IMPORTANCE The COVID-19 pandemic spurred research on the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and its surrogates. Here we highlight the importance of evaluating viral surrogates and experimental methodologies when studying pathogen survival in the environment.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and its surrogate, bacteriophage Phi6, on surfaces and in water

Pitol,

Venkatesan,

Hoptroff

et al. 2023

Appl Environ Microbiol

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show abstract

“…Therefore, bacteriophage Phi6 significantly overestimated the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in the water. The decay rates reported here for both viruses, Phi6 and SARS-CoV-2, fall within the range of data reported elsewhere 33,39 . The time taken to achieve a 90% reduction in the titter ( t 90 ) for SARS-CoV-2 in mineral water was 50 hours.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and its surrogate, bacteriophage Phi6, on surfaces and in water

Pitol

Venkatesan

Hughes

2023

Preprint

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The COVID-19 pandemic has motivated research on the persistence of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in environmental reservoirs such as surfaces and water. Viral persistence data has been collected for SARS-CoV-2 and its surrogates, including bacteriophage Phi6. Despite its wide use, no side-by-side comparisons between Phi6 and SARS-CoV-2 exist. Here, we quantified the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and Phi6 on surfaces (plastic and metal) and in water and evaluated the influence that the deposition solution has on viral persistence by using four commonly used deposition solutions: two culture media (DMEM and Tryptone Soya Broth (TSB)), Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS), and human saliva. Phi6 remained infectious in water significantly longer than SARS-CoV-2, having a half-life of 27 hours as compared with 15 hours for SARS-CoV-2. The persistence of viruses on surfaces was significantly influenced by the virus used and the deposition solution, but not by the surface material. Phi6 remained infectious significantly longer than SARS-CoV-2 when the inoculation solution was culture media (DMEM, TSB) and saliva. Using culture media and saliva led to half-lives between 9 hours and 2 weeks for Phi6, as compared to 0.5 to 2 hours for SARS-CoV-2. Using PBS as a deposition solution led to half-lives shorter than 4 hours for both viruses on all surfaces. Our results showed that, although it has been frequently used as a surrogate for coronaviruses, bacteriophage Phi6 is not an adequate surrogate for studies quantifying SARS-CoV-2 persistence, as it over-estimates infectiousness. Additionally, our findings reveal the need of using adequate deposition solutions when evaluating viral persistence on surfaces.

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“…Detection of a single viral RNA target is most common during low prevalence scenarios or in wastewater containing degraded RNA which occurs during elevated temperatures [ 67 ], different wastewater matrices or during extended storage times [ 68 , 69 ]. In schools, low prevalence was the most likely reason for low detection/ positivity rates observed as sampling was undertaken close to source and therefore reduced the time for degradation to occur [ 70 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wastewater monitoring for detection of public health markers during the COVID-19 pandemic: Near-source monitoring of schools in England over an academic year

Hassard

Rahimzadeh

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Background Schools are high-risk settings for infectious disease transmission. Wastewater monitoring for infectious diseases has been used to identify and mitigate outbreaks in many near-source settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, including universities and hospitals but less is known about the technology when applied for school health protection. This study aimed to implement a wastewater surveillance system to detect SARS-CoV-2 and other public health markers from wastewater in schools in England. Methods A total of 855 wastewater samples were collected from 16 schools (10 primary, 5 secondary and 1 post-16 and further education) over 10 months of school term time. Wastewater was analysed for SARS-CoV-2 genomic copies of N1 and E genes by RT-qPCR. A subset of wastewater samples was sent for genomic sequencing, enabling determination of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and emergence of variant(s) contributing to COVID-19 infections within schools. In total, >280 microbial pathogens and >1200 AMR genes were screened using RT-qPCR and metagenomics to consider the utility of these additional targets to further inform on health threats within the schools. Results We report on wastewater-based surveillance for COVID-19 within English primary, secondary and further education schools over a full academic year (October 2020 to July 2021). The highest positivity rate (80.4%) was observed in the week commencing 30th November 2020 during the emergence of the Alpha variant, indicating most schools contained people who were shedding the virus. There was high SARS-CoV-2 amplicon concentration (up to 9.2x106 GC/L) detected over the summer term (8th June - 6th July 2021) during Delta variant prevalence. The summer increase of SARS-CoV-2 in school wastewater was reflected in age-specific clinical COVID-19 cases. Alpha variant and Delta variant were identified in the wastewater by sequencing of samples collected from December to March and June to July, respectively. Lead/lag analysis between SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in school and WWTP data sets show a maximum correlation between the two-time series when school data are lagged by two weeks. Furthermore, wastewater sample enrichment coupled with metagenomic sequencing and rapid informatics enabled the detection of other clinically relevant viral and bacterial pathogens and AMR. Conclusions Passive wastewater monitoring surveillance in schools can identify cases of COVID-19. Samples can be sequenced to monitor for emerging and current variants of concern at the resolution of school catchments. Wastewater based monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 is a useful tool for SARS-CoV-2 passive surveillance and could be applied for case identification and containment, and mitigation in schools and other congregate settings with high risks of transmission. Wastewater monitoring enables public health authorities to develop targeted prevention and education programmes for hygiene measures within undertested communities across a broad range of use cases.

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Presence and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in aquatic environments: A mini-review

Cited by 15 publications

References 44 publications

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and its surrogate, bacteriophage Phi6, on surfaces and in water

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and its surrogate, bacteriophage Phi6, on surfaces and in water

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and its surrogate, bacteriophage Phi6, on surfaces and in water

Wastewater monitoring for detection of public health markers during the COVID-19 pandemic: Near-source monitoring of schools in England over an academic year

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