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

Polo, David; Quintela-Baluja, Marcos; Corbishley, Alexander; Jones, Davey L.; Singer, Andrew C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4705-6063; Graham, David W.; Romalde, Jesús L.. 2020 Making waves: wastewater-based epidemiology for COVID-19 – approaches and challenges for surveillance and prediction. Water Research, 186, 116404. 7, pp. 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116404

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.116404

Abstract/Summary

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. Threfore, 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.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1016/j.watres.2020.116404
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Pollution (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0043-1354
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	wastewater-based epidemiology, environmental monitoring, coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, sewage
NORA Subject Terms:	Health
Date made live:	15 Sep 2020 16:07 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528492

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1016/j.watres.2020.116404

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Pollution (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

0043-1354

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

wastewater-based epidemiology, environmental monitoring, coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, sewage