Health
CDC Turns to Wastewater Data to Track COVID’s Spread –Consumer Health News
FRIDAY, Feb. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) –It’s less enchanting than reading tea leaves, but federal health officials announced Friday that they are expanding nationwide efforts to track COVID-19 by monitoring virus levels found in raw sewage.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to add an additional 250 surveillance sites over the next few weeks to a list of more than 400 places that already regularly test their wastewater for bits of COVID-19 virus, Amy Kirby, program lead for the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System, said during a morning media briefing.
“Because increases in wastewater [virus] Generally occur before corresponding increases in clinical cases, wastewater surveillance serves as an early warning system for the emergence of COVID-19 in a community, “Kirby said.” These data are uniquely powerful because they capture the presence of infections from people with and without symptoms, and they’re not affected by access to health care or availability of clinical testing. “
The CDC is also adding wastewater surveillance data to the agency’s COVID Data Tracker site, so people can see trends in their communities, Kirby added.
Estimates suggest between 40% and 80% of people infected with COVID-19 shed viral RNA in their feces, whether or not they’ve developed symptoms, Kirby said.
“The shedding in feces starts very early after someone is infected. It’s in fact one of the first signs that we see of infection, which is really important for this early warning capability for wastewater,” Kirby said. “We see those rates go up very, very high, so lots of virus shed in feces very early in the infection, and then it tails off. “
With this in mind, the CDC started the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in September 2020 to forewarn communities facing a future COVID-19 surge. The NWSS now collects more than 34,000 samples daily representing approximately 53 million Americans, Kirby said.
Public health agency can use COVID wastewater tracking to plan where to place mobile testing and vaccination sites within communities, as well as warn local hospitals to brace themselves for an upcoming surge, Kirby noted.
Some states are also performing genetic sequencing on their wastewater samples, she added, to track the potential emergence of new COVID variants..
New York City’s wastewater tracking program recently detected COVID-19 fragments with unique mutations never before seen in human patients. These “cryptic lineages” could be evidence of new variants, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Nature Communications..
“Many of our states are sequencing their wastewater samples, and that data will be coming in to CDC within the next few weeks. We will have that available to monitor as well,” Kirby said. “That’s a very powerful method for tracking variants of concern in waste water. “
Tracking sewage for virus isn’t a new concept, Kirby said. Locales overseas use wastewater as part of their polio eradication efforts, for example.
And while the NWSS was created as part of the COVID-19 response, the CDC is working to expand the system’s ability to track other pathogens..
Future targets will include antibiotic-resistant germs, foodborne infections, influenza, and emerging fungal pathogens, Kirby said.
More information
Visit the COVID Tracking Project to see the new wastewater surveillance program.
SOURCE: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, media briefing, Feb. 4, 2022 with Amy Kirby, PhD, MPH, program lead, CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
|
Sources 2/ https://consumer.healthday.com/b-2-4-cdc-launches-national-wastewater-tracking-system-for-covid-2656557560.html The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos
to request, modification Contact us at Here or [email protected]
 |
 |
 |
