Persistence of human respiratory viral RNA in wastewater-settled solids

This study investigated the decay kinetics of genomic nucleic-acids of seven human respiratory viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human coronavirus (HCoV)-OC43, HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63, human rhinovirus (HRV), and influenza A virus (IAV), as well as pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) in wastewater solids. Viruses (except for PMMoV) were spiked into wastewater solids and their concentrations were followed for 50 days at three different temperatures (4°C, 22°C, and 37°C). Viral genomic RNA decayed following first-order kinetics with decay rate constants k from 0 to 0.219 per day. Decay rate constants k were not different from 0 for all targets in solids incubated at 4°C; k values were largest at 37°C and at this temperature, k values were similar across nucleic-acid targets. Regardless of temperature, there was limited viral RNA decay, with an estimated 0% to 20% reduction, over the typical residence times of sewage in the piped systems between input and collection point (<1 day). The k values reported herein can be used directly in fate and transport models to inform the interpretation of measurements made during wastewater surveillance.IMPORTANCEUnderstanding whether or not the RNA targets quantified for wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) efforts decay during transport between drains and the point of sample collection is critical for data interpretation. Here we show limited decay of viral RN...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Source Type: research