University finds sewage has real promise as an early detection system for COVID-19

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FILE-Aerial view of East Bay Municipal Utility District sewage treatment plant on April 29, 2020 in Oakland, California. (Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Salt Lake City (AP) – A few days after crossing the country to start college, Ryan Schmutz received a text message from Utah State University. COVID-19 was detected in his dormitory.

Within 10 minutes, he dropped the crepe he had made and took him by bus to the test site.

“I didn’t even know they were testing,” said Schmutz, 18, from Omaha, Nebraska. “It all happened really fast.”

Schmutz was one of about 300 students who were quarantined in the room last week, but was not due to illness reports or positive reactions. Instead, the warning bell came from sewage.

Universities from New Mexico to Tennessee and Michigan to New York are turning waste inspection into a public health tool. This is done when the institution seeks a way for the facility to keep the campus open, despite vulnerabilities such as student living arrangements and social willingness. The virus has already left its mark in an outbreak that has forced changes to distance learning at universities across the country.

The test works Studies show that by detecting the genetic material of the virus, it can be recovered from the stool of approximately half of COVID-19 patients. This concept is also used to look for poliovirus outbreaks.

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According to experts, sewage tests are particularly valuable because they can assess people without feeling unwell and can detect a few of the thousands. For example, another effluent-affected quarantine of 300 students at Arizona State University found two cases. Both were asymptomatic students but may still be spreading the virus.

“This is invaluable information given the college dormitory settings and how rapidly the disease spreads throughout the population.” Quality and service.

Wastewater tests also showed a possible presence of the virus in the University of Colorado student dormitory.

Utah uses this method more widely, including tracking outbreaks at meat-packing plants. Governments in the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands have announced similar surveillance programs, and a Massachusetts-based company, Biobot, is testing wastewater from cities across the country.

However, this method remains inaccurate. It is possible to identify the tendency of infection, but it is not possible to identify the number of viruses or the stage of infection. That is, in cities that don’t always have the scientific resources of the university or the ability to require people to take tests, it’s still not very useful in larger cities.

However, the technology has been rigorously studied and, given its rapid evolution, is best used with other methods such as contact tracing, he added.

It’s not a panacea for college. For example, in Utah, only sewage from a relatively small portion of students living on campus can be closely monitored. Rather than thousands of people coming and going each day, the number of college enrollments is about 28,000.

And this week, a positive Utah wastewater test could only narrow down to four residential halls sharing the same sewer system. The test returned positive on the second half of August 29 and quarantine began the next day. Students were prohibited from staying in their rooms, eating meals provided by the “COVID Care” team and walking outside the residence hall for more than a few steps.

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The building is located in an apartment-style suite, and if all roommates in the suite were tested negative, the students were released from isolation in a small group. The test revealed four coronavirus cases as of Thursday.

Schmutz, who performed a negative test with his roommate, did not miss face-to-face class time during the four-day quarantine.

But it’s a little embarrassing that he and his family weren’t informed about the sewage test. “We all felt like we were outside the loop. It’s obviously hard to handle,” he said.

Utah heard from similarly dissatisfied parents and students, but many others were grateful, spokeswoman Emily Wheeler said. “They see it as a non-invasive early detection system,” she said.

The program is also relatively cheap. The school takes samples daily, monitors some residential areas, and tests are conducted by a team of students.

“The wastewater has a story about the public health situation in the community,” said Grebat. “Many people are working on this right now. It’s amazing to see how fast it has progressed.”