Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jan;30(1):141-145.
doi: 10.3201/eid3001.231011.

Respiratory Viruses in Wastewater Compared with Clinical Samples, Leuven, Belgium

Annabel Rector, Mandy Bloemen, Marijn Thijssen, Bram Pussig, Kurt Beuselinck, Marc Van Ranst, Elke Wollants

Respiratory Viruses in Wastewater Compared with Clinical Samples, Leuven, Belgium

Annabel Rector et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Jan.

Abstract

In a 2-year study in Leuven, Belgium, we investigated the use of wastewater sampling to assess community spread of respiratory viruses. Comparison with the number of positive clinical samples demonstrated that wastewater data reflected circulation levels of typical seasonal respiratory viruses, such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and enterovirus D68.

Keywords: Belgium; EV-D68; RSV; acute respiratory tract infection; coronavirus respiratory syncytial virus; enterovirus; enterovirus D68; influenza; respiratory infections; respiratory panel; rhinovirus; viruses; wastewater-based epidemiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Respiratory viruses measured in wastewater versus positive clinical samples, Leuven, Belgium, January 2021–December 2022: A) influenza virus; B) RSV; C) HMPV; D) PIV-1; E) PIV-2; F) PIV-3; G) PIV-4; H) AdV. Graphs indicate evolution of viruses detected in wastewater by an in-house–developed multiplex quantitative PCR respiratory panel (line graphs; dots represent individual measurements) and by weekly counts of PCR-positive tests detected at UZL (bar graphs). Plots were generated using R version 4.1.1 (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing, https://www.r-project.org) and the ggplot2 package version 3.3.5 (https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org). A larger version of this figure is available at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/EID/article/30/1/23-1011-F1.htm. AdV, adenovirus; Ct, cycle threshold; HMPV, human metapneumovirus; PIV, parainfluenzavirus; RSV, respiratory syncytial virus; UZL, University Hospitals Leuven.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Respiratory viruses measured in wastewater versus number of positive clinical samples, Leuven, Belgium, January 2021–December 2022: A) HBoV; B) EV/RV and EV-D68; C) HPeV; D) SARS-CoV-1; SARS-CoV-2; and MERS-CoV; E) HCoV-NL63; F) HCoV-229E; G) HCoV-OC43; H) HCoV-HKU-1. Graphs indicate evolution of viruses detected in wastewater by an in-house–developed multiplex quantitative PCR respiratory panel (line graphs; dots represent individual measurements) and by weekly counts of PCR-positive tests detected at UZL (bar graphs). Plots were generated using R version 4.1.1 (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing, https://www.r-project.org) and the ggplot2 package version 3.3.5 (https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org). A larger version of this figure is available at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/EID/article/30/1/23-1011-F2.htm. Ct, cycle threshold; EV, enterovirus; HBoV, bocavirus; HCoV, human coronavirus; HPeV, parechovirus; MERS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus; RV, rhinovirus; UZL, University Hospitals Leuven.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Agrawal S, Orschler L, Schubert S, Zachmann K, Heijnen L, Tavazzi S, et al. Prevalence and circulation patterns of SARS-CoV-2 variants in European sewage mirror clinical data of 54 European cities. Water Res. 2022;214:118162. 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118162 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Medema G, Heijnen L, Elsinga G, Italiaander R, Brouwer A. Presence of SARS-Coronavirus-2 RNA in sewage and correlation with reported COVID-19 prevalence in the early stage of the epidemic in the Netherlands. Environ Sci Technol Lett. 2020;7:511–6. 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00357 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rector A, Bloemen M, Thijssen M, Delang L, Raymenants J, Thibaut J, et al. Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 concentration and circulation of variants of concern in wastewater of Leuven, Belgium. J Med Virol. 2023;95:e28587. 10.1002/jmv.28587 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Raymenants J, Geenen C, Budts L, Thibaut J, Thijssen M, De Mulder H, et al. Indoor air surveillance and factors associated with respiratory pathogen detection in community settings in Belgium. Nat Commun. 2023;14:1332. 10.1038/s41467-023-36986-z - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Leuven UZ. Weekly detection results of respiratory pathogens at UZ Leuven [in Dutch] [cited 2023 Apr 4]. https://www.uzleuven.be/nl/laboratoriumgeneeskunde/wekelijkse-detectiere...