Podcast 784: Wastewater Surveillance for COVID

<p><strong>Contributor: Jared Scott, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">About 50% of those infected with SARS-CoV-2 will shed the virus in their feces  </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Wastewater surveillance can be used to track COVID burden, which may be easier than collating test data from multiple hospitals across a region </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Viral shedding begins 5-7 days prior to symptom onset, so wastewater data can be used to anticipate outbreaks and inform policy and public health initiatives </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Some existing limitations to wastewater surveillance include:</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Reporting by counties were water sources may be mixed</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Septic tanks and other closed water systems will not be counted</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Not all those infected will shed the virus</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Weidhaas J, Aanderud ZT, Roper DK, et al. Correlation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater with COVID-19 disease burden in sewersheds.</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Sci Total Environ</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. 2021;775:145790. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145790</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kirby AE, Walters MS, Jennings WC, et al. Using Wastewater Surveillance Data to Support the COVID-19 Response — United States, 2020–2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:1242–1244. DOI:</span> <a href= "http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7036a2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">http://dx.doi.o