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Prospects and challenges of using electrochemical immunosensors as an alternative detection method for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater-based epidemiology

ABSTRACT: Given its potential applications in confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has attracted tremendous attention. Developing a fast, cost-effective, and practical method for SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater is of great significance to facilitate future WBE development. By now, the PCR-based approach serves as the reference method and “gold standard” to detect the virus in wastewater. However, we found a trend that the PCR-based method becomes almost an unshakable choice as more and more studies were published regarding SARS-CoV-2 WBE. Of note, the importance of exploring new, alternative approaches for SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater should not be underestimated. In this context, the prospect of using electrochemical immunosensors as the alternative detection method was investigated in this survey. Based on the previous efforts towards different virus immunoassay studies and newly published PCR-based COVD-19 WBE works, this survey provides new insights into the electrochemical immunoassay that have been widely adopted in body fluids virus detection, along with an extensive discussion of the detection mechanism, detection performance, past performances, current efforts, and potential challenges with wastewater detection. In the end, this survey concludes that using electrochemical immunosensors to analyze SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples quantitatively may have better feasibility and practicability than using the conventional PCR-based approach, especially when considering its fast detection, ease of miniaturization, and potential on-site measurement. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image

SUBMITTER: Lu D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7934662 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:With the economic and practical limits of medical screening for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 coming sharply into focus worldwide, scientists are turning now to wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) as a potential tool for assessing and managing the pandemic. We employed computational analysis and modeling to examine the feasibility, economy, opportunities and challenges of enumerating active coronavirus infections locally and globally using WBE. Depending on local conditions, detection in community wastewater of one symptomatic/asymptomatic infected case per 100 to 2,000,000 non-infected people is theoretically feasible, with some practical successes now being reported from around the world. Computer simulations for past, present and emerging epidemic hotspots (e.g., Wuhan, Milan, Madrid, New York City, Teheran, Seattle, Detroit and New Orleans) identified temperature, average in-sewer travel time and per-capita water use as key variables. WBE surveillance of populations is shown to be orders of magnitude cheaper and faster than clinical screening, yet cannot fully replace it. Cost savings worldwide for one-time national surveillance campaigns are estimated to be in the million to billion US dollar range (US$), depending on a nation's population size and number of testing rounds conducted. For resource poor regions and nations, WBE may represent the only viable means of effective surveillance. Important limitations of WBE rest with its inability to identify individuals and to pinpoint their specific locations. Not compensating for temperature effects renders WBE data vulnerable to severe under-/over-estimation of infected cases. Effective surveillance may be envisioned as a two-step process in which WBE serves to identify and enumerate infected cases, where after clinical testing then serves to identify infected individuals in WBE-revealed hotspots. Data provided here demonstrate this approach to save money, be broadly applicable worldwide, and potentially aid in precision management of the pandemic, thereby helping to accelerate the global economic recovery that billions of people rely upon for their livelihoods.

Project description:SARS-CoV-2 RNA quantification in wastewater is an important tool for monitoring the prevalence of COVID-19 disease on a community scale which complements case-based surveillance systems. As novel variants of concern (VOCs) emerge there is also a need to identify the primary circulating variants in a community, accomplished to date by sequencing clinical samples. Quantifying variants in wastewater offers a cost-effective means to augment these sequencing efforts. In this study, SARS-CoV-2 N1 RNA concentrations and daily loadings were determined and compared to case-based data collected as part of a national surveillance programme to determine the validity of wastewater surveillance to monitor infection spread in the greater Dublin area. Further, sequencing of clinical samples was conducted to determine the primary SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in Dublin. Finally, digital PCR was employed to determine whether SARS-CoV-2 VOCs, Alpha and Delta, were quantifiable from wastewater. No lead or lag time was observed between SARS-CoV-2 wastewater and case-based data and SARS-CoV-2 trends in Dublin wastewater significantly correlated with the notification of confirmed cases through case-based surveillance preceding collection with a 5-day average. This demonstrates that viral RNA in Dublin's wastewater mirrors the spread of infection in the community. Clinical sequence data demonstrated that increased COVID-19 cases during Ireland's third wave coincided with the introduction of the Alpha variant, while the fourth wave coincided with increased prevalence of the Delta variant. Interestingly, the Alpha variant was detected in Dublin wastewater prior to the first genome being sequenced from clinical samples, while the Delta variant was identified at the same time in clinical and wastewater samples. This work demonstrates the validity of wastewater surveillance for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 infections and also highlights its effectiveness in identifying circulating variants which may prove useful when sequencing capacity is limited.

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Prospects and challenges of using electrochemical immunosensors as an alternative detection method for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater-based epidemiology

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