Sewage-based coronavirus test could identify infection spikes up to 10 days earlier than existing medical-based tests, researchers say
A network of scientists from universities including Newcastle, Bangor and Edinburgh have already teamed up with local water companies to collect samples of untreated sewage from treatment plants; the first stage in mapping the outbreak through the sewers.Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, research revealed that people infected with the virus"shed" viral material in their faeces. That insight prompted an interest in"sewage epidemiology".
So while the researchers say they already have a reliable test that can show the presence or absence of the coronavirus, they are now working on a way to measure levels of infection regularly and reliably across the water-treatment network. He pointed out that it currently took seven-to-10 days to establish whether a person had the disease, but he said:"We can collect a sample of sewage and give you an exact number per person within the next day - and that's for the community.Messy epidemiologyWastewater contains other contaminants that could affect the viral material, making accurate measurements tricky
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