TY - JOUR
T1 - Detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater using a mobile laboratory setting
AU - Mathur, Shubham
AU - Salah, Ikram
AU - Msarwa, Haneen
AU - Craddock, Hillary A.
AU - Moran-Gilad, Jacob
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Applied Microbiology International.
PY - 2025/1/1
Y1 - 2025/1/1
N2 - This study evaluated a point-of-care device for wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) of SARS-CoV-2 circulation. WBE is a critical tool but faces challenges such as laboratory infrastructure, sample transport, skilled personnel, and time-consuming methods. Currently, a rapid, portable solution for wastewater surveillance is lacking. From June to September 2022, the performance of the GeneXpert instrument was compared with an established in-house method for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in 151 wastewater samples across laboratory, field, and mobile testing environments. In the laboratory setting, GeneXpert showed 100% agreement in detection, with 94.6% of positive samples displaying a viral load difference of ± 1 log compared to the in-house method. Field testing demonstrated 90% agreement, with 92.6% of GeneXpert-positive samples showing similar log differences. In mobile testing, GeneXpert detected 62.5% of samples, and testing faced technical issues. Overall, GeneXpert displayed a limit of detection of 12 cpml−1 with results available in under an hour, making it a promising tool for rapid and deployable wastewater testing. This requires further validation while addressing technical challenges related to field and mobile settings.
AB - This study evaluated a point-of-care device for wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) of SARS-CoV-2 circulation. WBE is a critical tool but faces challenges such as laboratory infrastructure, sample transport, skilled personnel, and time-consuming methods. Currently, a rapid, portable solution for wastewater surveillance is lacking. From June to September 2022, the performance of the GeneXpert instrument was compared with an established in-house method for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in 151 wastewater samples across laboratory, field, and mobile testing environments. In the laboratory setting, GeneXpert showed 100% agreement in detection, with 94.6% of positive samples displaying a viral load difference of ± 1 log compared to the in-house method. Field testing demonstrated 90% agreement, with 92.6% of GeneXpert-positive samples showing similar log differences. In mobile testing, GeneXpert detected 62.5% of samples, and testing faced technical issues. Overall, GeneXpert displayed a limit of detection of 12 cpml−1 with results available in under an hour, making it a promising tool for rapid and deployable wastewater testing. This requires further validation while addressing technical challenges related to field and mobile settings.
KW - environmental virology
KW - molecular diagnostic
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - wastewater
KW - wastewater-based epidemiology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85214573202&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/lambio/ovae135
DO - 10.1093/lambio/ovae135
M3 - Article
C2 - 39701809
AN - SCOPUS:85214573202
SN - 0266-8254
VL - 78
JO - Letters in Applied Microbiology
JF - Letters in Applied Microbiology
IS - 1
M1 - ovae135
ER -