@article{cb4fab822b2943d58e240a22d9b9108d,
title = "Variant-specific SARS-CoV-2 shedding rates in wastewater",
abstract = "Previous studies show that SARS-CoV-2 waste shedding rates vary by community and are influenced by multiple factors; however, differences in shedding rates across multiple variants have yet to be evaluated. The purpose of this work is to build on previous research that evaluated waste shedding rates for early SARS-CoV-2 and the Delta variant, and update population level waste shedding rates for the more-recent Omicron variant in six communities. Mean SARS-CoV-2 waste shedding rates were found to increase with the predominance of the Delta variant and subsequently decrease with Omicron infections. Interestingly, the Delta stage had the highest mean shedding rates and was associated with the most severe disease symptoms reported in other clinical studies, while Omicron, exhibiting reduced symptoms, had the lowest mean shedding rates. Additionally, shedding rates were most consistent across communities during the Omicron stage. This is the first paper to identify waste shedding rates specific to the Omicron variant and fills a knowledge gap critical to disease prevalence modeling.",
keywords = "COVID-19, Delta, Omicron, SARS-CoV-2 variants, Waste shedding rates, Wastewater-based epidemiology",
author = "Prasek, {Sarah M.} and Pepper, {Ian L.} and Innes, {Gabriel K.} and Stephanie Slinski and Betancourt, {Walter Q.} and Foster, {Aidan R.} and Yaglom, {Hayley D.} and Porter, {W. Tanner} and Engelthaler, {David M.} and Schmitz, {Bradley W.}",
note = "Funding Information: The authors thank the six communities in Arizona and Florida for their participation in collecting wastewater samples and data, as well as YCEDA technicians Anne Karen Magallanes, Robin Aitken, and Karissa Cordova, and WEST technician Erika R. Stark, for help in sample processing. We also thank the Regional Center for Border Health, Inc. local and state public health departments, and USA Facts for providing clinical data. We thank the team at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), particularly Sara Wilbur for data interpretation and Ronuck Patel for laboratory analysis, for providing tiled SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing to confirm predominant variants in samples. Similarly, we thank GT Molecular for providing variant qPCR results. Appreciation is extended to Paul Brierly, Executive Director at YCEDA, for assistance with administration and funding acquisition. Financial support for the study was provided by the Arizona Department of Health Services (CTR053299 and CTR057111). The IRB at the University of Arizona verified that all data was de-identified and complied with Human Subjects Protection. The graphical abstract was created with BioRender.com. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier B.V.",
year = "2023",
month = jan,
day = "20",
doi = "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159165",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "857",
journal = "Science of the Total Environment",
issn = "0048-9697",
publisher = "Elsevier",
}