Human viruses released into the environment can be detected and characterized in wastewater. The study of wastewater virome offers a consolidated perspective on the circulation of viruses within a population. Because the occurrence and severity of viral infections can vary across a person’s lifetime, studying the virome in wastewater samples contributed by various demographic segments can provide valuable insights into the prevalence of viral infections within these segments. In our study, targeted enrichment sequencing was employed to characterize the human virome in wastewater at a building-level scale. This was accomplished through passive sampling of wastewater in schools, university settings, and nursing homes in two cities in Catalonia. Additionally, sewage from a large urban wastewater treatment plant was analysed to serve as a reference for examining the collective excreted human virome. The virome obtained from influent wastewater treatment plant samples showcased the combined viral presence from individuals of varying ages, with astroviruses and human bocaviruses being the most prevalent, followed by human adenoviruses, polyomaviruses, and papillomaviruses. Significant variations in the viral profiles were observed among the different types of buildings studied. Mamastrovirus 1 was predominant in school samples, salivirus and human polyomaviruses JC and BK in the university settings while nursing homes showed a more balanced distribution of viral families presenting papillomavirus and picornaviruses and, interestingly, some viruses linked to immunosuppression. This study shows the utility of building-level wastewater-based epidemiology as an effective tool for monitoring the presence of viruses circulating within specific age groups. It provides valuable insights for public health monitoring and epidemiological studies.

中文翻译：

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在建筑物层面应用的基于废水的流行病学揭示了基于贡献者年龄的不同病毒组特征

释放到环境中的人类病毒可以在废水中检测和表征。废水病毒组的研究为病毒在人群中的循环提供了一个综合的视角。由于病毒感染的发生率和严重程度在人的一生中可能有所不同，因此研究不同人口群体提供的废水样本中的病毒组可以为了解这些群体中病毒感染的流行情况提供有价值的见解。在我们的研究中，采用靶向富集测序来表征建筑水平废水中的人类病毒组。这是通过对加泰罗尼亚两个城市的学校、大学和疗养院的废水进行被动采样来实现的。此外，还对大型城市污水处理厂的污水进行了分析，作为检查集体排泄的人类病毒组的参考。从污水处理厂进水样本中获得的病毒组显示出不同年龄个体的病毒组合，其中星状病毒和人博卡病毒最为常见，其次是人腺病毒、多瘤病毒和乳头瘤病毒。在所研究的不同类型的建筑物中观察到病毒特征的显着差异。乳腺病毒 1 在学校样本中占主导地位，在大学环境中唾液病毒和人类多瘤病毒 JC 和 BK 占主导地位，而疗养院显示出乳头瘤病毒和小核糖核酸病毒以及一些与免疫抑制有关的病毒的病毒家族分布更加平衡。这项研究显示了基于建筑废水的流行病学作为监测特定年龄组内传播的病毒存在的有效工具的效用。它为公共卫生监测和流行病学研究提供了宝贵的见解。