Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Correlating Quantitative and Genomic SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Data with Clinical Metrics in Metropolitan Perth, Western Australia

Jake Gazeley
* ORCID logo ,
Terence Lee
,
Daniel R Knight
,
Alexander Shivarev
,
Cameron Gordon
,
David Speers
,
Dylan D Barth
ORCID logo ,
Jelena Maticevic
,
Meredith Hodge
,
Paul Armstrong
,
Paul Knight
,
Sandra Sjollema
,
Avram Levy
ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 4 March 2024 / Approved: 4 March 2024 / Online: 5 March 2024 (09:07:35 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Gazeley, J.; Lee, T.; Knight, D.R.; Shivarev, A.; Gordon, C.; Speers, D.; Barth, D.D.; Maticevic, J.; Hodge, M.; Armstrong, P.; Knight, P.; Sjollema, S.; Levy, A. Correlating Quantitative and Genomic SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Data with Clinical Metrics in Metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. Environments 2024, 11, 62. Gazeley, J.; Lee, T.; Knight, D.R.; Shivarev, A.; Gordon, C.; Speers, D.; Barth, D.D.; Maticevic, J.; Hodge, M.; Armstrong, P.; Knight, P.; Sjollema, S.; Levy, A. Correlating Quantitative and Genomic SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Data with Clinical Metrics in Metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. Environments 2024, 11, 62.

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a key method for continuous monitoring of COVID-19 prevalence including circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineages. WBE addresses limitations of traditional clinical COVID-19 surveillance such as clinical test availability, fluctuating testing rates and increased reliance on rapid antigen tests. Our study in Perth, Western Australia, found a significant positive correlation between SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in wastewater and clinical PCR positivity rates (rs = 0.772; p < 0.001) over an 18-month period that included four successive COVID-19 waves. A strong positive correlation was apparent between the proportions of SARS-CoV-2 lineages in wastewater and clinical cases within the same region (rs = 0.728; p < 0.001), including earlier detection of Omicron and recombinant lineages in wastewater before clinical case confirmation. The successful integration of WBE with healthcare data underscores its critical role in enhancing public health decision-making and pandemic management. This approach not only demonstrates the value of WBE in current global health surveillance efforts but also highlights the potential of WBE to address future public health challenges, as a comprehensive disease monitoring and response approach.

Keywords

Wastewater-based epidemiology; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; surveillance system; correlation analysis; genomics

Subject

Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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