Wastewater monitoring could be an early warning system for future pandemics, helping countries better control the spread of infectious diseases.
- Wastewater monitoring could serve as an early warning system in the event of a pandemic, according to a new study.
- For this work, samples from sewage treatment plants, rivers, wetlands and open drains were taken in 2022 in 43 countries.
- For wastewater control to effectively help fight pandemics, governments and health institutions must work together and establish a comprehensive framework.
The World Health Organization recently raised its maximum alert on the Covid-19 pandemic. However, she recalled at the same time that vigilance should remain in place due to the persistence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To prevent a resurgence of the disease, wastewater monitoring could be a valuable tool, according to a new international study.
Covid-19: thesewage analysis helps fight disease
The work, led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institutethe Rockefeller Foundation, Mathematica and the UK Health Safety Agency, have confirmed the effectiveness of sewage monitoring as an early warning system for the spread of infectious diseases like Covid-19.
For this experience presented in the journal Tea Lancet Overall Health, samples from 43 countries on six continents were collected from sewage treatment plants, rivers, wetlands and open drains. “We found that screening sewage for Covid-19 was an effective and objective way to measure where the disease was spreading, with most samples being processed within four days”said the professor Julie Bines, one of authors of the study, in a communicated.
The researcher thus believes that the Covid-19 epidemic would have unfolded differently if wastewater monitoring had been systematic at the start of its progression. “Experts might have identified the SARS-CoV-2 much faster. Even if the spread of the pandemic was inevitable, health systems could have prepared better for the fallout with more advanced notice, saving many lives.”she says.
Pandemic: an international framework for wastewater monitoring is needed
Although the wastewater monitoring method has proven to be effective, it lacks an international framework, according to the researchers. The data obtained during the study was shared internally and with partner organizations, but was not made public.
“To truly advance wastewater monitoring, we need a global framework that includes improved testing, data capture and reporting, and ethical oversight that doesn’t further marginalize disadvantaged communities”said the expert.
“This way we could identify many current and future health threats like cholera, mpox (formerly monkeypox)influenza and typhoid, before they take over a community. But we need support to develop systems that can accurately capture, interpret and communicate data from different regions, especially vulnerable communities with limited infrastructure.”.