Wastewater may offer an early warning of pertussis outbreaks
Pertussis, or whooping cough, continues to cause periodic outbreaks worldwide and can be especially dangerous for infants who have not completed vaccination. Yet conventional surveillance depends on people seeking medical care, being tested, diagnosed and reported, which can delay recognition of changes in community transmission.
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, periodically causes outbreaks globally and poses a significant threat to infants who haven't received full vaccination. Current surveillance methods rely on individuals seeking medical care, being tested, diagnosed, and reported, which can lead to a delay in recognizing shifts in community transmission.
A research team from the University of Osaka and the Osaka Institute of Public Health demonstrated that wastewater surveillance could provide an earlier warning of pertussis outbreaks.
By analyzing sewage samples from four treatment plants in Osaka Prefecture over a two-year period, the researchers discovered that pertussis-associated DNA markers appeared in the wastewater before reported cases of the disease. The study, published in the journal Emerging Microbes & Infections, focused on Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis DNA concentrations, specifically the IS481 marker.
The concentration of this marker started to rise in April 2024 and followed a similar timeline to reported pertussis cases.
The cross-correlation analysis revealed that the wastewater signal occurred 10 weeks before reported cases, with other analyses showing lead times ranging from four to 16 weeks. This consistent pattern suggests that wastewater surveillance provides an earlier indication of community transmission than clinical reporting, which depends on individuals seeking medical care and undergoing testing.
Wastewater surveillance offers a significant advantage as it does not rely on infected individuals seeking medical attention, enabling it to capture broader community-level trends, including mild or asymptomatic cases that might be underrepresented in clinical reports.
The researchers, led by Dr. Daisuke Motooka from the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases at the University of Osaka, believe that combining wastewater and clinical surveillance could enable earlier detection of changes in community transmission. This combined approach could improve public health preparedness by providing earlier warnings, prompting heightened clinical awareness, expanded testing, and infection-prevention measures.
By adopting a proactive public health approach based on early detection, the researchers aim to limit the spread of pertussis within communities.
Written by urgent.news from Medical Xpress's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
