污水新型冠状病毒监测研究进展及启示

Research Progress and Implication of Wastewater Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

新冠肺炎疫情暴发以来,全球多个国家和地区频繁在污水中检测出新型冠状病毒核酸.开展基于污水流行病学的污水新型冠状病毒监测,可作为人群新冠肺炎监测的重要补充,获得的核酸浓度数据和序列突变分析结果,可为新冠肺炎疫情早期预警、早期发现无症状感染者、评估感染规模、监测人群流行趋势、开展病毒溯源调查、制定防控政策等提供科学依据.鉴于此,本文系统介绍了国内外污水中新型冠状病毒的来源及影响病毒存活的主要因素,归纳了常用的污水新型冠状病毒富集浓缩和核酸检测方法,概括了全球已开展的监测项目、进展及现存科学问题,指出了现有研究的局限性,包括缺乏污水中新型冠状病毒的分布特征及感染性研究、预测预警模型开发与应用不足等.为我国下一阶段新冠肺炎疫情或者未来可能出现的突发重大疫情的精准防控提供借鉴与参考,提升我国应对传染病及非传染病的预测预警、流行规模评估及精准施策的能力.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19),severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)has been found in wastewater frequently worldwide.Based on the wastewater-based epidemiology(WBE),wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 can complement population surveillance for COVID-19.Quantification of viral load and genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 can help early warning of COVID-19 outbreaks,early identification of asymptomatic cases,assessment of infection scale,prediction of pandemic trend status,and identification of virus sources to provide scientific basis for polices for the prevention and control.Accordingly,here,the sources of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater at home and abroad and the major factors affecting the survival of virus were reviewed.Common methods to concentrate,detect and quantify SARS-CoV-2 were reviewed,with an overview of global surveillance projects,progresses,and remaining scientific issues.Some shortcomings of the current procedures,including the lack of sufficient information on distribution characteristics and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and limited development and application of prediction models were also discussed.WBE can provide insight into the scientific prevention and control of COVID-19 in the face of current or future pandemics in China,and enhance China′s ability to deal with the surveillance and early warning,epidemic scale assessment,and accurate policy-making for the infectious and non-infectious diseases.