A scoping review of global SARS-CoV-2 wastewater-based epidemiology in light of COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Recently, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) research has experienced a strong impetus during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, a few technical issues related to surveillance strategies, such as standardized procedures ranging from sampling to testing protocols, need to be resolved in preparation for future infectious disease outbreaks. This review highlights the study characteristics, potential use of WBE and overview of methods, as well as methods utilized to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) including its variant in wastewater. A literature search was performed electronically in PubMed and Scopus according to PRISMA guidelines for relevant peer-reviewed articles published between January 2020 and March 2022. The search identified 588 articles, out of which 221 fulfilled the necessary criteria and are discussed in this review. Most global WBE studies were conducted in North America (n = 75, 34 %), followed by Europe (n = 68, 30.8 %), and Asia (n = 43, 19.5 %). The review also showed that most of the application of WBE observed were to correlate SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA) trends in sewage with epidemiological data (n = 90, 40.7 %). The techniques that were often used globally for sample collection, concentration, preferred matrix recovery control and various sample types were also discussed. Overall, this review provided a framework for researchers specializing in WBE to apply strategic approaches to their research questions in achieving better functional insights. In addition, areas that needed more in-depth analysis, data collection, and ideas for new initiatives were identified.

Keywords: COVID-19; Global; SARS-CoV-2; Wastewater; Wastewater surveillance; Wastewater-based epidemiology.

Fig. 1

PRISMA flow diagram for search strategy.

Fig. 2

Map of articles according to continent from year 2020–2022. The intensity of the brown color on the map represents the number of published papers in each area. Darker brown areas indicate a higher number of published articles, while lighter brown areas indicate a lower number of articles. The lowest number of articles published in an area is represented by the color yellow. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Fig. 3

Number of articles based on continent from respective pandemic year.

Fig. 4

Percentages of (a) collection methods; (b) concentration methods; (c) matrix recovery control according to sample types.