Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38036496›Full record

ArticleNature communications2023

Utilizing river and wastewater as a SARS-CoV-2 surveillance tool in settings with limited formal sewage systems.

Kayla G Barnes, Joshua I Levy, Jillian Gauld, Jonathan Rigby, Oscar Kanjerwa, Christopher B Uzzell, Chisomo Chilupsya, Catherine Anscombe, Christopher Tomkins-Tinch, Omar Mbeti and 16 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing 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

21 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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  7. Real-time, multi-pathogen wastewater genomic surveillance with Freyja 2.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Monitoring pathogens in wastewater.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2024
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

26 authors.

Kayla G BarnesMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi. Kayla.Barnes@lstmed.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-8291-4388
Joshua I LevyDepartment of Vector Biology and Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7573-7793
Jillian GauldDepartment of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Jonathan RigbyMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.ORCID 0000-0001-5143-0981
Oscar KanjerwaMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Christopher B UzzellDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4204-3485
Chisomo ChilupsyaMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Catherine AnscombeMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Christopher Tomkins-TinchDepartment of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9114-6421
Omar MbetiDepartment of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Edward CairnsBlantyre District Health Office, Blantyre, Malawi.
Herbert TholeMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Shannon McSweeneyMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Marah G ChibwanaMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.ORCID 0000-0002-8940-3855
Philip M AshtonMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Khuzwayo C JereMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.ORCID 0000-0003-3376-8529
John Scott MeschkeNIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Gastrointestinal Infections, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Peter DiggleDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Jennifer CornickMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Benjamin ChilimaCHICAS, Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
Kondwani JamboMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Kristian G AndersenDepartment of Vector Biology and Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6431-5982
Gift KawalaziraDepartment of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Steve PatersonBlantyre District Health Office, Blantyre, Malawi.ORCID 0000-0002-1307-2981
Tonney S NyirendaMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Nicholas FeaseyMalawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.ORCID 0000-0003-4041-1405

Funding

Identifying genetic determinants of Rotavirus Vaccine Failure in Malawian ChildrenK01TW010853 · FIC · HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI BARNES, KAYLA G · 2018 to 2022
$731k
FIC NIH HHS K01 TW010853Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted health systems globally and robust surveillance has been critical for pandemic control, however not all countries can currently sustain community pathogen surveillance programs. Wastewater surveillance has proven valuable in high-income settings, but less is known about the utility of water surveillance of pathogens in low-income countries. Here we show how wastewater surveillance of SAR-CoV-2 can be used to identify temporal changes and help determine circulating variants quickly. In Malawi, a country with limited community-based COVID-19 testing capacity, we explore the utility of rivers and wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. From May 2020-May 2022, we collect water from up to 112 river or defunct wastewater treatment plant sites, detecting SARS-CoV-2 in 8.3% of samples. Peak SARS-CoV-2 detection in water samples predate peaks in clinical cases. Sequencing of water samples identified the Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants, with Delta and Omicron detected well in advance of detection in patients. Our work highlights how wastewater can be used to detect emerging waves, identify variants of concern, and provide an early warning system in settings with no formal sewage systems.

Indexed as

COVID-19WastewaterCOVID-19 TestingHumansPandemicsRiversSARS-CoV-2SewageWastewater-Based Epidemiological MonitoringWaterSewageWastewaterWater

Identifiers

PMID38036496
PMCPMC10689440

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.