Wastewater surveillance for COVID-19
A powerful tool to stay ahead of a surge of new infections.
5 minute read
Right now when at-home rapid tests are widely available and many people are fully vaccinated, we all likely know someone who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, experienced either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic illness, stayed at home for the recommended period of time, and then returned to work - all that without ever notifying their physician or reporting their COVID-positive status to the CDC. And they are not alone. CDC estimates that 1 in every 4 COVID-19 infections go unreported. For variants like Omicron, which is highly transmissible, this poses a great risk to our communities.
Accelerating the development of screening and detection tools for COVID-19 infection has been the utmost priority throughout this pandemic, but one tool which was previously dismissed as rather nonessential has gained traction - wastewater surveillance. Wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 is now a rapidly developing field that can help provide early warning of outbreaks in communities. Since people infected with SARS-CoV-2 can shed the virus in their feces (whether they know they’re infected or not), the viral RNA can then be detected in wastewater. Monitoring these levels over time helps to identify increases and decreases in a sewershed.
This is not a novel approach and other diseases have previously been tracked through wastewater.
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