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Assessment of the spread of Covid-19 among the population of the area on the basis of wastewater samples taken from the wastewater treatment plant

Grant number: RITA2 / 118

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Key facts

  • Disease

    COVID-19

  • Start & end year

    2020
    2020

  • Known Financial Commitments (USD)

    $27,390

  • Funder

    Estonian Research Council

  • Principal Investigator

    Tanel Tenson

  • Research Location

    Estonia

  • Lead Research Institution

    University of Tartu, Department of Natural and Exact Sciences, Institute of Technology

  • Research Priority Alignment

    N/A

  • Research Category

    Pathogen: natural history, transmission and diagnostics

  • Research Subcategory

    Environmental stability of pathogen

  • Special Interest Tags

    N/A

  • Study Type

    Unspecified

  • Clinical Trial Details

    N/A

  • Broad Policy Alignment

    Pending

  • Age Group

    Not Applicable

  • Vulnerable Population

    Not applicable

  • Occupations of Interest

    Not applicable

Abstract

The project will develop a method for estimating the prevalence of Covid-19 in the population based on waste water analysis. As a result of the work, it can be concluded that there are currently no more precise methodologies that would allow estimating the exact number of those infected through wastewater. However, the work proposed ranges that allow the number of infected people to be predicted: - if there is 0 virus per milliliter in the wastewater, it is highly probable that there are no vectors in the area; - <100 viruses per milliliter is an indication that virus carriers are low in the area; - 100 - 2000 viruses per milliliter, a moderate number of virus carriers in the Estonian context; -> 2000 viruses indicates a wider spread. In conclusion, it can be concluded that the results of wastewater samples are reliable to assess whether or not the spread of the disease in some areas is declining.