Wastewater surveillance can be used as a reliable tool to monitor the infectious disease situation on population-level by utilizing a method that simultaneously detects multiple pathogens, a study finds. The study was done as a part of the WastPan consortium project (2021-2023) and published in Environment International journal in August 2024.
Wastewater samples were collected from ten different locations for two years, evaluating the suitability of wastewater monitoring as a tool for population-level health surveillance. A method for simultaneous detection of viruses (SARS-CoV-2 and sapovirus), bacteria (Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, Salmonella species, and pathogenic Escherichia coli), protozoans (Cryptosporidium and Giardia species), and clinically relevant antimicrobial resistance genes from wastewater was developed in the study. The method offers a cost-effective alternative to population-level monitoring, as one analysis of a wastewater sample can provide comprehensive information about the infectious disease situation of the entire community.
The research is part of Anniina Sarekoski's doctoral thesis, where the data collected in the WastPan project will next be used to investigate the genetic epidemiology of food- and water-borne multiresistant Campylobacter and Salmonella strains.
Reference:
Sarekoski A, Lipponen A, Hokajärvi AM, Räisänen K, Tiwari A, Paspaliari D, Lehto KM, Oikarinen S, Heikinheimo A, Pitkänen T; WastPan Study Group. Simultaneous biomass concentration and subsequent quantitation of multiple infectious disease agents and antimicrobial resistance genes from community wastewater. Environ Int. 2024 Sep;191:108973. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108973. Epub 2024 Aug 20. PMID: 39182255.
Further information:
Anniina Sarekoski
Doctoral researcher
University of Helsinki
Tarja Pitkänen
Associate professor
University of Helsinki