Charlie Catlett, a senior research scientist at DPI, an affiliate of the University of Illinois, said that wastewater samples, used with clinical testing and hospitalization data, can be an effective way for public health experts to track COVID-19 in the community. -19 local and state water monitoring programs.

“The role of wastewater is to give you a rough idea of ??what is happening today. It takes about a week and we may see the number of cases,” Cartlett said.

According to DPI data, the earliest evidence of omicron variants in Chicago wastewater was discovered on December 12. In the past two weeks, there has been a surge in COVID-19 cases in Chicago. According to data from the Chicago Department of Public Health, as of December 21, the positive rate of COVID-19 in Chicago was 8.3%, up from 4.2% a week ago. Chicago has an average of 2,069 cases per day, more than double the previous week.

“Especially the holidays are happening here, and now is when we start to see these increases,” Cartlett said.

SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19 and can be detected in human excrement almost from the beginning of the infection, even if there are no symptoms. The data collected from wastewater cannot tell officials who contracted COVID-19 or provide the exact number of infections, but it can provide information on infection trends at the community level over time. This data can help determine where COVID-19 is spreading rapidly and identify areas that can benefit from mobile testing sites and enhanced vaccine exchanges.

Cartlett said: “In terms of the number of cases, no one has figured out what virus concentration means.” “But, having said that, this is a very good indicator of virus growth over time.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services recommended that states monitor wastewater for COVID-19. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 80% of American households use municipal sewage collection systems. These agencies have created a portal for state and city health departments to submit wastewater testing data to aggregate and interpret data from public health actions.

In Illinois, part of the wastewater monitoring program is funded by the Walder Foundation, an organization based in Skokie that supports scientific innovation and environmental sustainability.Others are funded by the CDC, which was given earlier this week New grant DPI and CDPH continue their water monitoring program for at least two years.

In addition to Illinois, many other states also regularly test for COVID-19 in wastewater. In CDPH’s wastewater monitoring program, samples were collected from water treatment plants and sewer locations throughout the city, and then analyzed at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Catlett said that scientists detect COVID-19 in the water the same way they detect it in humans-using polymerase chain reaction or PCR tests. To identify the variation, the samples were sequenced at the Argonne National Laboratory in Remont.

At the state level, DPI worked with the Illinois Department of Public Health to test wastewater from 65 collection points in 48 counties.

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At the state and Chicago levels, the health department prioritizes disadvantaged communities—communities in disadvantaged areas with low vaccination rates. Identifying high-risk areas helps CDPH and IDPH choose which treatment plants and sewer locations to test more frequently.

“When we consider where to sample in Chicago, we are really looking at vulnerable communities,” Cartlett said. “Some communities have been hit much harder than others, and they are often those with insufficient resources.”

DPI also developed a water monitoring plan for Cook County Prison and O’Hare International Airport. In prisons, samples can help operators understand when to start a large-scale test plan.

In O’Hare, the situation is a bit tricky because the people gathered at the airport change every day. Although the data is useful, it is more difficult to solve from a testing point of view. The researchers mainly used these data as evidence that the new variant arrived in Chicago through O’Hare.

Even before the pandemic, Chicago’s waterways were regularly tested for hazardous materials. Lake Michigan has long been tested for high concentrations of feces in the summer, and if the fecal concentration reaches dangerous levels, it sometimes causes park district officials to shut down Chicago’s beaches.

In addition, the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation District regularly checks for toxins such as lead and phosphorus. But disease detection is less common. In addition to COVID, wastewater can also be used to detect various diseases, such as influenza, H1N1, polio, norovirus, Zika virus, and hepatitis.

Cartwright said that even if the pandemic is over, the COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program can provide insight into the feasibility of the annual operation plan.

Once the pandemic subsides, it may not be necessary to test the wastewater twice a week as it is now, but even if the wastewater is tested for COVID or other diseases twice a month, it can help public health officials keep their pulse.

“Before the COVID-19 outbreak, a mechanism for wastewater monitoring did not exist,” Cartlett said. “It will also serve us in future epidemics.”

This story first appeared in our sister publication, Crain’s Chicago business.