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Sangsanont J, Rattanakul S, Makkaew P, Precha N, Rukthanapitak P, Sresung M, Siri Y, Kitajima M, Takeda T, Haramoto E, Puenpa J, Wanlapakorn N, Poovorawan Y, Mongkolsuk S, Sirikanchana K. Wastewater monitoring in tourist cities as potential sentinel sites for near real-time dynamics of imported SARS-CoV-2 variants. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 860:160317. [PMID: 36436629 PMCID: PMC9691270 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Revised: 10/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) complements the clinical surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its variants' distribution in populations. Many developed nations have established national and regional WBE systems; however, governance and budget constraints could be obstacles for low- and middle-income countries. An urgent need thus exists to identify hotspots to serve as sentinel sites for WBE. We hypothesized that representative wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in two international gateway cities, Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand, could be sentineled for SARS-CoV-2 and its variants to reflect the clinical distribution patterns at city level and serve as early indicators of new variants entering the country. Municipal wastewater samples (n = 132) were collected from eight representative municipal WWTPs in Bangkok and Phuket during 19 sampling events from October 2021 to March 2022, which were tested by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) using the US CDC N1 and N2 multiplex and variant (Alpha, Delta, and Omicron BA.1 and BA.2) singleplex assays. The variant detection ratios from Bangkok and Phuket followed similar trends to the national clinical testing data, and each variant's viral loads agreed with the daily new cases (3-d moving average). Omicron BA.1 was detected in Phuket wastewater prior to Bangkok, possibly due to Phuket's WWTPs serving tourist communities. We found that the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 viral loads predominantly drove the SARS-CoV-2 resurgence. We also noted a shifting pattern in the Bangkok WBE from a 22-d early warning in early 2021 to a near real-time pattern in late 2021. The potential application of tourist hotspots for WBE to indicate the arrival of new variants and re-emerging or unprecedented infectious agents could support tourism-dependent economies by complementing the reduced clinical regulations while maintaining public health protection via wastewater surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jatuwat Sangsanont
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; Water Science and Technology for Sustainable Environmental Research Group, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Surapong Rattanakul
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
| | - Prasert Makkaew
- Department of Environmental Health and Technology, School of Public Health, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand; One Health Research Center, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand
| | - Nopadol Precha
- Department of Environmental Health and Technology, School of Public Health, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand; One Health Research Center, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand
| | - Pratchaya Rukthanapitak
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Montakarn Sresung
- Research Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
| | - Yadpiroon Siri
- Environmental, Safety Technology and Health Program, School of Public Health, Walailak University, Thaiburi, Thasala, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand
| | - Masaaki Kitajima
- Division of Environmental Engineering, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan
| | - Tomoko Takeda
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
| | - Eiji Haramoto
- Interdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi 400-8511, Japan
| | - Jiratchaya Puenpa
- Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Nasamon Wanlapakorn
- Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Yong Poovorawan
- Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Skorn Mongkolsuk
- Research Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok 10210, Thailand; Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), OPS, MHESI, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
| | - Kwanrawee Sirikanchana
- Research Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok 10210, Thailand; Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology (EHT), OPS, MHESI, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
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