Wastewater network infrastructure in public health: Applications and learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic
Name
journal.pgph.0000061.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
992.56 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b77478ce96f56f32db85770087c19046
Author(s)
Sharara, Nour
Endo, Noriko
Duvallet, Claire
Ghaeli, Newsha
Matus, Mariana
Heussner, Jennings
Olesen, Scott W
Alm, Eric J
Chai, Peter R
Erickson, Timothy B
Date Issued
2021
Journal
PLOS Global Public Health
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Citation
Sharara, Nour, Endo, Noriko, Duvallet, Claire, Ghaeli, Newsha, Matus, Mariana et al. 2021. "Wastewater network infrastructure in public health: Applications and learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic." PLOS Global Public Health, 1 (12).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Accurate estimates of COVID-19 burden of infections in communities can inform public health strategy for the current pandemic. Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) leverages sewer infrastructure to provide insights on rates of infection by measuring viral concentrations in wastewater. By accessing the sewer network at various junctures, important insights regarding COVID-19 disease activity can be gained. The analysis of sewage at the wastewater treatment plant level enables population-level surveillance of disease trends and virus mutations. At the neighborhood level, WBE can be used to describe trends in infection rates in the community thereby facilitating local efforts at targeted disease mitigation. Finally, at the building level, WBE can suggest the presence of infections and prompt individual testing. In this critical review, we describe the types of data that can be obtained through varying levels of WBE analysis, concrete plans for implementation, and public health actions that can be taken based on WBE surveillance data of infectious diseases, using recent and successful applications of WBE during the COVID-19 pandemic for illustration.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PGPH.0000061
