6533b856fe1ef96bd12b2642

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Spatial and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 diversity circulating in wastewater

Alba Pérez-cataluñaÁLvaro Chiner-omsEnric Cuevas-ferrandoAzahara Díaz-reolidIrene FalcóWalter RandazzoInés Girón-guzmánAna AllendeMaría A. BrachoIñaki ComasGloria Sánchez

subject

Variants of concernEnvironmental EngineeringSARS-CoV-2Ecological ModelingfungiVariants of interestCOVID-19MicrobiologiaWastewaterGenome sequencingvariants of concernPollutionArticlespike mutationsEcologiagenome sequencingAigües residuals Microbiologiavariants of interestHumansSpike mutationsPandemicswastewaterWaste Management and DisposalWater Science and TechnologyCivil and Structural Engineering

description

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has proven to be an effective tool for epidemiological surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, combining WBE together with high-throughput sequencing techniques can be useful for the analysis of SARS-CoV-2 viral diversity present in a given sample. The present study focuses on the genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in 76 sewage samples collected during the three epidemiological waves that occurred in Spain from 14 wastewater treatment plants distributed throughout the country. The results obtained demonstrate that the metagenomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater allows the detection of mutations that define the B.1.1.7 lineage and the ability of the technique to anticipate the detection of certain mutations before they are detected in clinical samples. The study proves the usefulness of sewage sequencing to track Variants of Concern that can complement clinical testing to help in decision-making and in the analysis of the evolution of the pandemic.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2022-03-01Water Research
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.118007