Tracking SARS-CoV-2 during Tokyo 2020 via wastewater

Date:
February 3, 2022
Source:
Hokkaido University
Summary:
Wastewater-based epidemiological tracking of COVID-19 in the Tokyo
2020 Olympic and Paralympic village showed that SARS-CoV-2 was
present in areas without diagnosed individuals.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Wastewater-based epidemiological tracking of COVID-19 in the Tokyo 2020
Olympic and Paralympic village showed that SARS-CoV-2 was present in
areas without diagnosed individuals.


==========================================================================
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, delayed by a year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, were held between July 21 and September 21, 2021. The
games were held without spectators, and athletes and support staff in
the Olympic village were tested daily for SARS-CoV-2, to ensure that
the pandemic was kept under control.

A team of researchers from Japan, led by Hokkaido University's Masaaki Kitajima, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, has used wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) to show that SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, was present in more areas of the village than indicated by
the antigen test. Their findings were published as a Rapid Communication
in the Journal of Travel Medicine. The team included Specially Appointed Professor Michio Murakami at the Center for Infectious Disease Education
and Research, Osaka University; Ryo Iwamoto from Shionogi & Co., Ltd.; Professor Hiroyuki Katayama at the Graduate School of Engineering,
The University of Tokyo; and Professor Seiya Imoto at The Institute of
Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (IMSUT).

The use of WBE to monitor the spread of the pandemic is well established,
and is currently implemented in a number of cities across the
world. Recent research has focused on using WBE to track the pandemic
at smaller scales, from mass events all the way down to individual
airplane flights.

The authors set out to assess the incidence of COVID-19 in the Olympic and Paralympic village. To do so, they collected a total of 690 wastewater
samples between July 14 and September 8, 2021, from manholes in seven
distinct areas in the village. The samples were collected daily, tested
for the presence of SARS- CoV-2 by a qPCR-based method, and the results
were reported to the Tokyo Organizing Committee. Results were also
correlated with the clinical data that was gathered separately.

SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 233 of the 690 samples, including in
areas where no positive cases were detected by clinical testing. The
authors posit that this is due to two factors: WBE detects the virus
in asymptomatic and post- quarantine patients, and the daily screenings
in the village used an antigen test -- which does not detect low viral
loads. In addition, sequencing identified the presence of SARS-CoV-2
variants in the samples.

"This study demonstrates that WBE is an effective tool in
tracking and controlling the spread of COVID-19 during mass
gatherings," said Kitajima. "It can also be used to determine
the presence and prevalence of variants in asymptomatic patients."
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dreams in this free online course from New Scientist -- Sign_up_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Hokkaido_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Masaaki Kitajima, Michio Murakami, Ryo Iwamoto, Hiroyuki Katayama,
Seiya
Imoto. COVID-19 wastewater surveillance implemented in the Tokyo
2020 Olympic and Paralympic Village. Journal of Travel Medicine,
Feb. 3, 2022; DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taac004 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220203102958.htm

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