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Abstract

Wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) has become a widespread method to monitor transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other human pathogens in Europe. We conducted a survey about WBS systems’ objectives, approaches, representativeness and usefulness in 10 invited European countries in 2023, i.e. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway. All countries completed the study questionnaire about their SARS-CoV-2 WBS systems, and shared information about WBS of other pathogens as deemed relevant. SARS-CoV-2 WBS systems primarily monitored national and subnational trends (population coverage: 25–99%), and a majority (8/10) also tracked variant distribution. Nine of 10 countries reported that their SARS-CoV-2 WBS systems were representative of their population and all countries remarked that the findings were valuable for public health decision-making. Results were shared with relevant public health authorities and published via dedicated websites and/or dashboards. WBS systems of other pathogens were mostly in the early stages, with some countries implementing pilots. Notable exceptions were the well-established poliovirus surveillance systems in Finland, Italy and the Netherlands. This study brings understanding the diverse landscape of WBS in Europe, offering insights for future developments and collaborations. Furthermore, it highlights the need for further integration of WBS into other European surveillance systems.

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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.33.2400096
2024-08-15
2024-08-15
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.33.2400096
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A survey of the representativeness and usefulness of wastewater-based surveillance systems in 10 countries across Europe in 2023
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Guido+Benedetti&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Benedetti Guido</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Lene+Wulff+Krogsgaard&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Wulff Krogsgaard Lene</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Sabine+Maritschnik&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Maritschnik Sabine</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Hans+Peter+St%C3%BCger&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Stüger Hans Peter</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Veronik+Hutse&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Hutse Veronik</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Raphael+Janssens&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Janssens Raphael</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Soile+Blomqvist&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Blomqvist Soile</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Tarja+Pitk%C3%A4nen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pitkänen Tarja</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Anastasia+Koutsolioutsou&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Koutsolioutsou Anastasia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Eszter+R%C3%B3ka&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Róka Eszter</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Marta+Vargha&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Vargha Marta</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Giuseppina+La+Rosa&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">La Rosa Giuseppina</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Elisabetta+Suffredini&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Suffredini Elisabetta</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Henry-Michel+Cauchie&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Cauchie Henry-Michel</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Leslie+Ogorzaly&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ogorzaly Leslie</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Rudolf+FHJ+van+der+Beek&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">van der Beek Rudolf FHJ</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Willemijn+J+Lodder&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lodder Willemijn J</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Elisabeth+Henie+Madslien&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Madslien Elisabeth Henie</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jose+Antonio+Baz+Lomba&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Baz Lomba Jose Antonio</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Steen+Ethelberg&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ethelberg Steen</a></span>. A survey of the representativeness and usefulness of wastewater-based surveillance systems in 10 countries across Europe in 2023. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2024;29(33):pii=2400096. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.33.2400096" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.33.2400096</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 09 Feb 2024;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 03 Jun 2024 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.33.2400096
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.33.2400096
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