The continuous emergence of infectious viral diseases has become a major threat to public health. Thus, accurate detection of pathogenic viruses in water samples is of great importance. For example, during the global outbreak of COVID-19, widely applicable wastewater surveillance testing has been developed to monitor the progression of the pandemic and provide considerable advance notice of infection dynamics. To quantify virus species, proper pretreatment and continuous cold storage of water samples are required to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the testing results. These requirements lead to an inevitable reliance on a cold chain for shipping, handling, and storage of water samples, which is not feasible both logistically and financially in resource-limiting settings. In this study, we developed porous superabsorbent polymer (PSAP) beads modified with a stabilizer for virus detection in water samples. By applying PSAP beads to collect water samples, the viral targets were captured and immobilized inside the beads while undesired components were excluded. We have successfully demonstrated that the shelf life of model viruses can be effectively extended at room temperature or even elevated temperatures, in which both the infectivity level and RNA integrity of the viruses can be protected with the help of the stabilizer. Therefore, the enhanced PSAP beads provide a low-cost and efficient point-of-collection sample treatment and storage method that are feasible and practicable for the quantification of viruses in water samples.

Self-driven pretreatment and room-temperature storage of water samples for virus detection using enhanced porous superabsorbent polymer (PSAP) beads

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.