Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37711234›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in public health2023

Assessment of seasonality and normalization techniques for wastewater-based surveillance in Ontario, Canada.

Hadi A Dhiyebi, Joud Abu Farah, Heather Ikert, Nivetha Srikanthan, Samina Hayat, Leslie M Bragg, Asim Qasim, Mark Payne, Linda Kaleis, Caitlyn Paget and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing 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

14 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  5. Wastewater Surveillance for Group APathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
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  7. Article
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  14. Simultaneous detection and quantification of multiple pathogen targets in wastewater.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023
    Article
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

16 authors.

Hadi A DhiyebiDepartment of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Joud Abu FarahDepartment of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Heather IkertDepartment of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Nivetha SrikanthanDepartment of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Samina HayatDepartment of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Leslie M BraggDepartment of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Asim QasimRegional Municipality of York, Newmarket, ON, Canada.
Mark PayneRegional Municipality of York, Newmarket, ON, Canada.
Linda KaleisRegional Municipality of York, Newmarket, ON, Canada.
Caitlyn PagetRegional Municipality of York, Newmarket, ON, Canada.
Dominika Celmer-RepinRegional Municipality of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Arianne FolkemaRegional Municipality of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Stephen DrewRegional Municipality of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Robert DelatollaDepartment of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
John P GiesyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Mark R ServosDepartment of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Wastewater-based surveillance is at the forefront of monitoring for community prevalence of COVID-19, however, continued uncertainty exists regarding the use of fecal indicators for normalization of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater. Using three communities in Ontario, sampled from 2021-2023, the seasonality of a viral fecal indicator (pepper mild mottle virus, PMMoV) and the utility of normalization of data to improve correlations with clinical cases was examined. Methods: Wastewater samples from Warden, the Humber Air Management Facility (AMF), and Kitchener were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2, PMMoV, and crAssphage. The seasonality of PMMoV and flow rates were examined and compared by Season-Trend-Loess decomposition analysis. The effects of normalization using PMMoV, crAssphage, and flow rates were analyzed by comparing the correlations to clinical cases by episode date (CBED) during 2021. Results: Seasonal analysis demonstrated that PMMoV had similar trends at Humber AMF and Kitchener with peaks in January and April 2022 and low concentrations (troughs) in the summer months. Warden had similar trends but was more sporadic between the peaks and troughs for PMMoV concentrations. Flow demonstrated similar trends but was not correlated to PMMoV concentrations at Humber AMF and was very weak at Kitchener ( Discussion: Differences in seasonal trends in viral biomarkers caused by differences in sewershed characteristics (flow, input, etc.) may play a role in determining how effective normalization may be for improving correlations (or not). This study highlights the importance of assessing the influence of viral fecal indicators on normalized SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses of concern. Fecal indicators used to normalize the target of interest may help or hinder establishing trends with clinical outcomes of interest in wastewater-based surveillance and needs to be considered carefully across seasons and sites.

Indexed as

COVID-19Wastewater-Based Epidemiological MonitoringHumansOntarioSARS-CoV-2WastewaterWastewatercrAssphagefecal indicatorsnormalizationPMMoVSARS-CoV-2seasonality

Identifiers

PMID37711234
PMCPMC10499178

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Registered trials

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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.