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Project

SARS-CoV-2 RNA quantification in wastewater as complementary epidemiological indicator to monitor the epidemic.

This project aims to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater sampled throughout Belgium as a complementary epidemiological indicator for the rapid and constant follow-up of the current epidemic at high spatial and temporal resolutions. This translational data-driven epidemiological research will provide direct added value to support and evaluate policy initiatives and to detect novel outbreaks. This project fills current knowledge gaps in monitoring the epidemic by providing prevalence estimates in the general population without the need for individual testing. Furthermore, through triangulation of our data with data from diagnostic testing and clinical surveillance, this project will make a more comprehensive prediction and control of the COVID-19 epidemic possible. The idea to measure SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater as a proxy for its infection in the general population is innovative and epidemiologically highly informative as community-wide data can be obtained at high temporal (daily) and spatial (city or town) resolutions. This proposed wastewater surveillance strategy can be regarded as a sensitive early-warning tool and can substantially improve models/predictions of the ongoing epidemic. Specialists in wastewater-based epidemiology and virology are brought together in this consortium to make this project feasible within the proposed timeframe.
Date:1 Jun 2020 →  31 May 2021
Keywords:COVID-19, HEALTH SURVEILLANCE, EPIDEMIOLOGY, WASTE WATER
Disciplines:Public health sciences not elsewhere classified