Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37375438›Full record

ArticlePathogens (Basel, Switzerland)2023

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology as a Tool to Detect SARS-CoV-2 Circulation at the Community Level: Findings from a One-Year Wastewater Investigation Conducted in Sicily, Italy.

Carmelo Massimo Maida, Fabio Tramuto, Giovanni Maurizio Giammanco, Roberta Palermo, Walter Priano, Simona De Grazia, Giuseppa Purpari, Giuseppina La Rosa, Elisabetta Suffredini, Luca Lucentini and 7 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Carmelo Massimo MaidaDepartment of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-6989-9259
Fabio TramutoDepartment of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-0108-4608
Giovanni Maurizio GiammancoDepartment of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-7874-6289
Roberta PalermoDepartment of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Walter PrianoDepartment of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-4121-8711
Simona De GraziaDepartment of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-7748-0880
Giuseppa PurpariIstituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia "A. Mirri", Via Marinuzzi, 90129 Palermo, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-7285-5321
Giuseppina La RosaIstituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-2657-100X
Elisabetta SuffrediniIstituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-7605-0539
Luca LucentiniIstituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Mario PalermoRegional Health Authority of Sicily, Via Vaccaro 5, 90145 Palermo, Italy.
Walter Pollina AddarioRegional Health Authority of Sicily, Via Vaccaro 5, 90145 Palermo, Italy.
Giorgio GrazianoClinical Epidemiology Unit, Regional Reference Laboratory of Western Sicily for the Emergence of COVID-19, University Hospital "P. Giaccone", Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Palmira ImmordinoDepartment of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Francesco VitaleDepartment of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Sari Collaboration Group
Walter MazzuccoDepartment of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-5090-1366

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology is a well-established tool for detecting and monitoring the spread of enteric pathogens and the use of illegal drugs in communities in real time. Since only a few studies in Italy have investigated the correlation between SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and the prevalence of COVID-19 cases from clinical testing, we conducted a one-year wastewater surveillance study in Sicily to correlate the load of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and the reported cumulative prevalence of COVID-19 in 14 cities from October 2021 to September 2022. Furthermore, we investigated the role of SARS-CoV-2 variants and subvariants in the increase in the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Our findings showed a significant correlation between SARS-CoV-2 RNA load in wastewater and the number of active cases reported by syndromic surveillance in the population. Moreover, the correlation between SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and the active cases remained high when a lag of 7 or 14 days was considered. Finally, we attributed the epidemic waves observed to the rapid emergence of the Omicron variant and the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. We confirmed the effectiveness of wastewater monitoring as a powerful epidemiological proxy for viral variant spread and an efficient complementary method for surveillance.

Indexed as

active casesCOVID-19SARS-CoV-2surveillancewastewaterwastewater-based epidemiology

Identifiers

PMID37375438
PMCPMC10305655

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.