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  • David Polo
    Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
  • Marcos Quintela-Baluja
    Newcastle University
  • Alexander Corbishley
    University of Edinburgh
  • Davey L. Jones
  • Andrew C. Singer
    Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford
  • David W. Graham
    Newcastle University
  • Jesus L. Romalde
    Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
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.

Keywords

  • Wastewater-based epidemiology, Environmental monitoring, Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, Sewage
Original languageEnglish
Article number116404
JournalWater Research
Volume186
Early online date9 Sept 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2020

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