Wastewater monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 shows high correlation with COVID-19 case numbers and allowed early detection of the first confirmed B.1.1.529 infection in Switzerland: results of an observational surveillance study

Bagutti, Claudia; Hug, Monica Alt; Heim, Philippe; Pekerman, Laura Maurer; Hampe, Evelyn Ilg; Hübner, Philipp; Fuchs, Simon Wolfgang; Savic, Miodrag; Stadler, Tanja; Topolsky, Ivan; Baykal, Pelin Icer; Dreifuss, David; Beerenwinkel, Niko; Sutter, Sarah Tschudin

doi:10.4414/smw.2022.w30202

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…For the Basel facility, 24 hours composite samples were collected daily (except for two days, generally on weekends, when 48 hours composite samples were taken) from the inflow of ProRheno AG, Basel, the local wastewater treatment plant (Bagutti et al 2022). Until further processing, samples were stored at 4° C for a maximum of 72 hours.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influenza transmission dynamics quantified from wastewater

Nadeau

Devaux

Bagutti

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Influenza infections are challenging to monitor at the population level due to a high proportion of mild and asymptomatic cases and confounding of symptoms with other common circulating respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Alternate methods capable of tracking cases outside of clinical reporting infrastructure could improve monitoring of influenza transmission dynamics. Influenza shedding into wastewater represents a promising source of information where quantification is unbiased by testing or treatment-seeking behaviors. We quantified influenza A and B virus loads from influent at Switzerland's three largest wastewater treatment plants, serving about 12% of the Swiss population. We estimated trends in infection incidence and the effective reproductive number Re in these catchments during a 2021/22 epidemic and compared our estimates to clinical influenza surveillance data. We showed that wastewater-based incidence is better aligned with catchment-level confirmed cases than national ILI, and that only the wastewater data capture a peak in incidence in December 2021. We further estimated Re to have been below 1.05 after introduction of work from home measures in December 2021 and above 0.97 after these measures were relaxed in two out of three catchments based on wastewater data. The third catchment yielded qualitatively the same results, although with wider confidence intervals. The confirmed-case data yielded comparatively less precise estimates that include 1 before and during the period of measures. On the basis of this research we developed an online dashboard for wastewater-based influenza surveillance in Switzerland where we will continue to monitor the onset and dynamics of the 2022/23 flu season.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influenza transmission dynamics quantified from wastewater

Nadeau

Devaux

Bagutti

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…All samples were collected within the scope of ongoing wastewater-based SARS-CoV-2 surveillance projects [17][18]. We retrospectively quantified influenza A and influenza B viruses from stored RNA extracts for this study.…”

Section: Quantifying Influenza Rna In Wastewatermentioning

confidence: 99%

Influenza transmission dynamics quantified from RNA in wastewater in Switzerland

Nadeau,

Devaux,

Bagutti

et al. 2024

Swiss Med Wkly

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INTRODUCTION: Influenza infections are challenging to monitor at the population level due to many mild and asymptomatic cases and similar symptoms to other common circulating respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Methods for tracking cases outside of typical reporting infrastructure could improve monitoring of influenza transmission dynamics. Influenza shedding into wastewater represents a promising source of information where quantification is unbiased by testing or treatment-seeking behaviours. METHODS: We quantified influenza A and B virus loads from influent at Switzerland’s three largest wastewater treatment plants, serving about 14% of the Swiss population (1.2 million individuals). We estimated trends in infection incidence and the effective reproductive number (Re) in these catchments during a 2021/22 epidemic and compared our estimates to typical influenza surveillance data. RESULTS: Wastewater data captured the same overall trends in infection incidence as laboratory-confirmed case data at the catchment level. However, the wastewater data were more sensitive in capturing a transient peak in incidence in December 2021 than the case data. The Re estimated from the wastewater data was roughly at or below the epidemic threshold of 1 during work-from-home measures in December 2021 but increased to at or above the epidemic threshold in two of the three catchments after the relaxation of these measures. The third catchment yielded qualitatively the same results but with wider confidence intervals. The confirmed case data at the catchment level yielded comparatively less precise R_e estimates before and during the work-from-home period, with confidence intervals that included one before and during the work-from-home period. DISCUSSION: Overall, we show that influenza RNA in wastewater can help monitor nationwide influenza transmission dynamics. Based on this research, we developed an online dashboard for ongoing wastewater-based influenza surveillance in Switzerland.

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“…During the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of other types of data, from wearables, wastewater, and mobility through cellular data for early identification of risks, became evident [42][43][44][45]. Approaches like this also show the ability of omnichannel surveillance for other infectious diseases with pandemic potential, such as a novel strain of influenza.…”

Section: Enabling Ps For Digital Public Health Intelligencementioning

confidence: 99%

Enabling Multicentric Participatory Disease Surveillance for Global Health Enhancement: Viewpoint on Global Flu View

Neto¹,

Paolotti²,

Dalton³

et al. 2023

JMIR Public Health Surveill

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Participatory surveillance (PS) has been defined as the bidirectional process of transmitting and receiving data for action by directly engaging the target population. Often represented as self-reported symptoms directly from the public, PS can provide evidence of an emerging disease or concentration of symptoms in certain areas, potentially identifying signs of an early outbreak. The construction of sets of symptoms to represent various disease syndromes provides a mechanism for the early detection of multiple health threats. Global Flu View (GFV) is the first-ever system that merges influenza-like illness (ILI) data from more than 8 countries plus 1 region (Hong Kong) on 4 continents for global monitoring of this annual health threat. GFV provides a digital ecosystem for spatial and temporal visualization of syndromic aggregates compatible with ILI from the various systems currently participating in GFV in near real time, updated weekly. In 2018, the first prototype of a digital platform to combine data from several ILI PS programs was created. At that time, the priority was to have a digital environment that brought together different programs through an application program interface, providing a real time map of syndromic trends that could demonstrate where and when ILI was spreading in various regions of the globe. After 2 years running as an experimental model and incorporating feedback from partner programs, GFV was restructured to empower the community of public health practitioners, data scientists, and researchers by providing an open data channel among these contributors for sharing experiences across the network. GFV was redesigned to serve not only as a data hub but also as a dynamic knowledge network around participatory ILI surveillance by providing knowledge exchange among programs. Connectivity between existing PS systems enables a network of cooperation and collaboration with great potential for continuous public health impact. The exchange of knowledge within this network is not limited only to health professionals and researchers but also provides an opportunity for the general public to have an active voice in the collective construction of health settings. The focus on preparing the next generation of epidemiologists will be of great importance to scale innovative approaches like PS. GFV provides a useful example of the value of globally integrated PS data to help reduce the risks and damages of the next pandemic.

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Wastewater monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 shows high correlation with COVID-19 case numbers and allowed early detection of the first confirmed B.1.1.529 infection in Switzerland: results of an observational surveillance study

Cited by 19 publications

References 25 publications

Influenza transmission dynamics quantified from wastewater

Influenza transmission dynamics quantified from wastewater

Influenza transmission dynamics quantified from RNA in wastewater in Switzerland

Enabling Multicentric Participatory Disease Surveillance for Global Health Enhancement: Viewpoint on Global Flu View

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