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Using Wastewater Surveillance to Compare COVID-19 Outbreaks during the Easter Holidays over a 2-Year Period in Cape Town, South Africa.

Nomfundo Thobeka MahlangeniRenée StreetSuranie HornAngela MatheeNoluxabiso MangwanaStephanie DiasJyoti Rajan SharmaPritika RamharackJohan LouwTarylee ReddySwastika Surujlal-NaickerSizwe NkambuleCandice WebsterMongezi MdhluliGlenda GrayChristo John Frederick MullerRabia Johnson
Published in: Viruses (2023)
Wastewater surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has shown to be an important approach to determine early outbreaks of infections. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is regarded as a complementary tool for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 trends in communities. In this study, the changes in the SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels in wastewater during Easter holidays in 2021 and 2022 in the City of Cape Town were monitored over nine weeks. Our findings showed a statistically significant difference in the SARS-CoV-2 RNA viral load between the study weeks over the Easter period in 2021 and 2022, except for study week 1 and 4. During the Easter week, 52% of the wastewater treatment plants moved from the lower (low viral RNA) category in 2021 to the higher (medium to very high viral RNA) categories in 2022. As a result, the median SARS-CoV-2 viral loads where higher during the Easter week in 2022 than Easter week in 2021 ( p = 0.0052). Mixed-effects model showed an association between the SARS-CoV-2 RNA viral loads and Easter week over the Easter period in 2021 only ( p < 0.01). The study highlights the potential of WBE to track outbreaks during the holiday period.
Keyphrases
  • sars cov
  • respiratory syndrome coronavirus
  • south africa
  • wastewater treatment
  • public health
  • coronavirus disease
  • risk assessment
  • risk factors
  • nucleic acid
  • antibiotic resistance genes
  • placebo controlled