Water Wheel Nov/Dec 2022: Covid Surveillance

Abstract

We are what we eat. Or taken to its logical conclusion and put more bluntly, our poop can talk. For a long time, researchers have collected samples at municipal wastewater treatment works to reveal fascinating and useful insights into public health. Many of the things we ingest as well as the illnesses we contract show up in tiny, but discernible, traces in our faecal matter and urine. This spans a host of things, from the illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals some of us use, to the diseases coursing through our bodies. Sewage surveillance offers a number of benefits over clinical testing and the diagnosis of individual patients. It’s done anonymously and because it studies populations en masse, fewer trained personnel and less specialised equipment and facilities are needed, simplifying logistics and slashing costs. By using molecular techniques to analyse samples, researchers can develop a snapshot of the health of an entire community, including how many people are carrying a particular infection, regardless of whether they are showing symptoms.

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