Timing and Trends for Municipal Wastewater, Lab-Confirmed Case, and Syndromic Case Surveillance of COVID-19 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Publisher: American Public Health Association Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 1254074 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1541-0048 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00900036 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Washington, DC : American Public Health Association
Original Publication: New York [etc.]

COVID-19*/epidemiology; Humans ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Wastewater ; North Carolina/epidemiology ; Sentinel Surveillance ; RNA, Viral

Objectives. To compare 4 COVID-19 surveillance metrics in a major metropolitan area. Methods. We analyzed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater influent and primary solids in Raleigh, North Carolina, from April 10 through December 13, 2020. We compared wastewater results with lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases and syndromic COVID-like illness (CLI) cases to answer 3 questions: (1) Did they correlate? (2) What was the temporal alignment of the different surveillance systems? (3) Did periods of significant change (i.e., trends) align? Results. In the Raleigh sewershed, wastewater influent, wastewater primary solids, lab-confirmed cases, and CLI were strongly or moderately correlated. Trends in lab-confirmed cases and wastewater influent were observed earlier, followed by CLI and, lastly, wastewater primary solids. All 4 metrics showed sustained increases in COVID-19 in June, July, and November 2020 and sustained decreases in August and September 2020. Conclusions. In a major metropolitan area in 2020, the timing of and trends in municipal wastewater, lab-confirmed case, and syndromic case surveillance of COVID-19 were in general agreement. Public Health Implications. Our results provide evidence for investment in SARS-CoV-2 wastewater and CLI surveillance to complement information provided through lab-confirmed cases. ( Am J Public Health . 2023;113(1):79-88. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307108).

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P30 ES010126 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS; P30 ES025128 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS; T32 ES007018 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS

0 (Wastewater)
0 (RNA, Viral)

Date Created: 20221110 Date Completed: 20221216 Latest Revision: 20240102

20240102

PMC9755929

10.2105/AJPH.2022.307108

36356280