Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38806581›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2024

SARS-CoV-2 detection in pediatric dental clinic wastewater reflects the number of local COVID-19 cases in children under 10 years old.

Dai Kanamori, Jun Sakai, Takahiro Iijima, Yuka Oono, Bikash Malla, Eiji Haramoto, Satoshi Hayakawa, Shihoko Komine-Aizawa, Shigefumi Maesaki, Thomas Vorup-Jensen and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Negative Impact of Dental Wastewater on the Environment and Human Health: A Scoping Review.Water environment research : a research publication of the Water Environment Federation · 2025
    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

14 authors.

Dai KanamoriDivision of Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Human Development and Fostering, Meikai University School of Dentistry, 1-1 Keyakidai, Sakado, Saitama, 350-0283, Japan.
Jun SakaiDepartment of Infectious Disease and Infection Control, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, 350-0495, Japan.
Takahiro IijimaDivision of Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Human Development and Fostering, Meikai University School of Dentistry, 1-1 Keyakidai, Sakado, Saitama, 350-0283, Japan.
Yuka OonoDivision of Dental Anesthesiology, Department of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Sciences, Meikai University School of Dentistry, Saitama, 350-0283, Japan.
Bikash MallaInterdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi, 400-8511, Japan.
Eiji HaramotoInterdisciplinary Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi, 400-8511, Japan.
Satoshi HayakawaDivision of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 173-8610, Japan.
Shihoko Komine-AizawaDivision of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 173-8610, Japan.
Shigefumi MaesakiDepartment of Infectious Disease and Infection Control, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, 350-0495, Japan.
Thomas Vorup-JensenBiophysical Immunology Laboratory, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
Paul Evan KilgoreDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA.
Hikaru KohaseDivision of Dental Anesthesiology, Department of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Sciences, Meikai University School of Dentistry, Saitama, 350-0283, Japan.
Tomonori HoshinoDivision of Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Human Development and Fostering, Meikai University School of Dentistry, 1-1 Keyakidai, Sakado, Saitama, 350-0283, Japan.
Mitsuko SekiDivision of Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Human Development and Fostering, Meikai University School of Dentistry, 1-1 Keyakidai, Sakado, Saitama, 350-0283, Japan. mitsuko.seki@dent.meikai.ac.jp.

Funding

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 22H03229Nihon University Research Grant for 2022
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This was the first longitudinal study to analyze dental clinic wastewater to estimate asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection trends in children. We monitored wastewater over a 14-month period, spanning three major COVID-19 waves driven by the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants. Each Saturday, wastewater was sampled at the Pediatric Dental Clinic of the only dental hospital in Japan's Saitama Prefecture. The relationship between the weekly number of cases in Saitama Prefecture among residents aged < 10 years (exposure) and wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection (outcome) was examined. The number of cases was significantly associated with wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA positivity (risk ratio, 5.36; 95% confidence interval, 1.72-16.67; Fisher's exact test, p = 0.0005). A sample from Week 8 of 2022 harbored the Omicron variant. Compared to sporadic individual testing, this approach allows continuous population-level surveillance, which is less affected by healthcare seeking and test availability. Since wastewater from pediatric dental clinics originates from the oral cavities of asymptomatic children, such testing can provide important information regarding asymptomatic COVID-19 in children, complementing clinical pediatric data.

Indexed as

COVID-19Dental ClinicsSARS-CoV-2WastewaterChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantJapanLongitudinal StudiesMaleRNA, ViralRNA, ViralWastewater

Identifiers

PMID38806581
PMCPMC11133353

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.