Making waves : wastewater-based epidemiology for COVID-19 - approaches and challenges for surveillance and prediction

David Polo, Marcos Quintela Baluja, Alexander Corbishley, Davey L Jones, Andrew C. Singer, David W. Graham, Jesus L. Romalde

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the feces of infected patients and wastewater has drawn attention, not only to the possibility of fecal-oral transmission but also to the use of wastewater as an epidemiological tool. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted problems in evaluating the epidemiological scope of the disease using classical surveillance approaches, due to a lack of diagnostic capacity, and their application to only a small proportion of the population. As in previous pandemics, statistics, particularly the proportion of the population infected, are believed to be widely underestimated. Furthermore, analysis of only clinical samples cannot predict outbreaks in a timely manner or easily capture asymptomatic carriers. Therefore, community-scale surveillance, including wastewater-based epidemiology, can bridge the broader community and the clinic, becoming a valuable indirect epidemiological prediction tool for SARS-CoV-2 and other pandemic viruses. This article summarizes current knowledge and discusses the critical factors for implementing wastewater based epidemiology of COVID-19.
Original languageEnglish
JournalWater Research
Early online date9 Sept 2020
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 9 Sept 2020

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Wastewater-Based Epidemiology
  • Environmental monitoring
  • Coronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Sewage

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