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; Paul Evan Kilgore; Hikaru Kohase; Tomonori Hoshino; Mitsuko Seki

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-63020-z

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, Paul Evan Kilgore, Hikaru Kohase, Tomonori Hoshino, Mitsuko Seki^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Biomedicine - Forskning og uddannelse, Skou-bygningen

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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.

Original language	English
Article number	12187
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	14
Issue	1
Number of pages	10
ISSN	2045-2322
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63020-z
Publication status	Published - May 2024

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Kanamori, D., Sakai, J., Iijima, T., Oono, Y., Malla, B., Haramoto, E., Hayakawa, S., Komine-Aizawa, S., Maesaki, S., Vorup-Jensen, T., Kilgore, P. E., Kohase, H., Hoshino, T., & Seki, M. (2024). SARS-CoV-2 detection in pediatric dental clinic wastewater reflects the number of local COVID-19 cases in children under 10 years old. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article 12187. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63020-z

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

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{\textquoteright}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{\textquoteright}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.",

author = "Dai Kanamori and Jun Sakai and Takahiro Iijima and Yuka Oono and Bikash Malla and Eiji Haramoto and Satoshi Hayakawa and Shihoko Komine-Aizawa and Shigefumi Maesaki and Thomas Vorup-Jensen and Kilgore, {Paul Evan} and Hikaru Kohase and Tomonori Hoshino and Mitsuko Seki",

year = "2024",

month = may,

doi = "10.1038/s41598-024-63020-z",

language = "English",

volume = "14",

journal = "Scientific Reports",

issn = "2045-2322",

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number = "1",

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Kanamori, D, Sakai, J, Iijima, T, Oono, Y, Malla, B, Haramoto, E, Hayakawa, S, Komine-Aizawa, S, Maesaki, S, Vorup-Jensen, T, Kilgore, PE, Kohase, H, Hoshino, T & Seki, M 2024, 'SARS-CoV-2 detection in pediatric dental clinic wastewater reflects the number of local COVID-19 cases in children under 10 years old', Scientific Reports, vol. 14, no. 1, 12187. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63020-z

SARS-CoV-2 detection in pediatric dental clinic wastewater reflects the number of local COVID-19 cases in children under 10 years old. / Kanamori, Dai; Sakai, Jun; Iijima, Takahiro et al.
In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 14, No. 1, 12187, 05.2024.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - SARS-CoV-2 detection in pediatric dental clinic wastewater reflects the number of local COVID-19 cases in children under 10 years old

AU - Kanamori, Dai

AU - Sakai, Jun

AU - Iijima, Takahiro

AU - Oono, Yuka

AU - Malla, Bikash

AU - Haramoto, Eiji

AU - Hayakawa, Satoshi

AU - Komine-Aizawa, Shihoko

AU - Maesaki, Shigefumi

AU - Vorup-Jensen, Thomas

AU - Kilgore, Paul Evan

AU - Kohase, Hikaru

AU - Hoshino, Tomonori

AU - Seki, Mitsuko

PY - 2024/5

Y1 - 2024/5

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-024-63020-z

DO - 10.1038/s41598-024-63020-z

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38806581

AN - SCOPUS:85194893125

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 14

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

IS - 1

M1 - 12187

ER -

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

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