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Spatially resolved qualified sewage spot sampling to track SARS-CoV-2 dynamics in Munich - One year of experience

2021; Elsevier BV; Volume: 797; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149031

1879-1026

Rubio-Acero Raquel, Jessica Beyerl, Maximilian Muenchhoff, Marc Sancho Roth, Noemi Castelletti, Ivana Paunović, Katja Radon, Bernd F. W. Springer, Christian Nagel, Bernhard O. Boehm, Merle M. Böhmer, Alexander Graf, Helmut Blum, Stefan Krebs, Oliver T. Keppler, Andreas Osterman, Zohaib N. Khan, Michael Höelscher, Andreas Wieser, Emad Alamoudi, Anderson Jared, Bakuli Abhishek, Maxilmilian Baumann, Marc Becker, Franziska Bednarzki, Olimbek Bemirayev, Jessica Beyerl, Patrick Bitzer, Rebecca Böhnlein, Isabel Brand, Bruger Jan, Friedrich Caroli, Noemi Castelletti, Josephine Coleman, Lorenzo Contento, Alina Czwienzek, Flora Deák, N. Diefenbach Maximilian, Jana Diekmannshemke, Gerhard Dobler, Jürgen Durner, Ute Eberle, Judith Eckstein, Eser Tabea, Philine Falk, Manuela Feyereisen, Fingerle Volker, Felix Forster, Turid Frahnow, Frese Jonathan, Günter Fröschl, Christiane Fuchs, Mercè Garí, Otto Geisenberger, Christof Geldmacher, Leonard Gilberg, Kristina Gillig, Philipp Girl, Elias Golschan, Guggenbuehl Noller Jessica Michelle, Guglielmini Elena Maria, Pablo Gutierrez, Anslem Haderer, Marlene Hannes, Lena Hartinger, Jan Hasenauer, Alejandra Hernández, Leah Hillari, Hinske Christian, Tim Hofberger, Hölscher Michael, Sacha Horn, Kristina Huber, Christian Janke, Ursula Kappl, Antonia Keßler, Zohaib Khan, Johanna Kresin, Inge Kroidl, Kroidl Arne, Magdalena Lang, Clemens Lang, Lange Silvan, Michael Laxy, Le Gleut Ronan, Reiner Leidl, Leopold Liedl, Xhovana Lucaj, Fabian Luppa, Nafziger Alexandra Sophie, Petra Mang, Alisa Markgraf, Rebecca Mayrhofer, Dafni Metaxa, Müller Hannah, Katharina Müller, Laura Olbrich, Ivana Paunović, Michael Plank, Claire Pleimelding, Michel Pletschette, Michael Pritsch, Stephan Prückner, Kerstin Puchinger, Pütz Peter, Katja Radon, Raimundéz Elba, Jakob Reich, F. Rieß, Camilla Rothe, Rubio-Acero Raquel, Viktoria Ruci, Elmar Saathoff, Nicole Schäfer, Schälte Yannik, Benedikt Schluse, Lara Schneider, Mirjam Schunk, Lars Schwettmann, Alba Soler, Peter Sothmann, Kathrin Strobl, Jeni Tang, Theis Fabian, Verena Thiel, Sophie Thiesbrummel, Vincent Vollmayr, Von Lovenberg Emilia, Von Lovenberg Jonathan, Julia Waibel, W Claudia, Andreas Wieser, Winter Simon, Roman Wölfel, Julia Wolff, Tobias Würfel, Sabine Zange, Zeggini Eleftheria, Anna Zielke, Thorbjörn Zimmer,

Biosensors and Analytical Detection

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a tool now increasingly proposed to monitor the SARS-CoV-2 burden in populations without the need for individual mass testing. It is especially interesting in metropolitan areas where spread can be very fast, and proper sewage systems are available for sampling with short flow times and thus little decay of the virus. We started in March 2020 to set up a once-a-week qualified spot sampling protocol in six different locations in Munich carefully chosen to contain primarily wastewater of permanent residential areas, rather than industry or hospitals. We used RT-PCR and sequencing to track the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the Munich population with temporo-spatial resolution. The study became fully operational in mid-April 2020 and has been tracking SARS-CoV-2 RNA load weekly for one year. Sequencing of the isolated viral RNA was performed to obtain information about the presence and abundance of variants of concern in the Munich area over time. We demonstrate that the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 RNA loads (between <7.5 and 3874/ml) in these different areas within Munich correlates well with official seven day incidence notification data (between 0.0 and 327 per 100,000) obtained from the authorities within the respective region. Wastewater viral loads predicted the dynamic of SARS-CoV-2 local incidence about 3 weeks in advance of data based on respiratory swab analyses. Aligning with multiple different point-mutations characteristic for certain variants of concern, we could demonstrate the gradual increase of variant of concern B.1.1.7 in the Munich population beginning in January 2021, weeks before it became apparent in sequencing results of swabs samples taken from patients living in Munich. Overall, the study highlights the potential of WBE to monitor the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, including the introduction of variants of concern in a local population.