Evaluation of a Wastewater-Based Epidemiological Approach to Estimate the Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infections and the Detection of Viral Variants in Disparate Oregon Communities at City and Neighborhood Scales.
Blythe A LaytonDevrim KayaChristine KellyKenneth J WilliamsonDana AlegreSilke M BachhuberPeter G BanwarthJeffrey W BethelKatherine CarterBenjamin D DalzielMark DasenkoMatthew GenizaAndrea GeorgeAnne-Marie GirardRoy HaggertyKathryn A HigleyDenise M HynesJane LubchencoKatherine R McLaughlinF Javier NietoAslan NoakesMatthew PetersonAdriana D PiemontiJustin L SandersBrett M TylerTyler S RadnieckiPublished in: Environmental health perspectives (2022)
The greater reliability of wastewater SARS-CoV-2 concentrations over clinically reported case counts was likely due to systematic biases that affect reported case counts, including variations in access to testing and underreporting of asymptomatic cases. With these advantages, combined with scalability and low costs, wastewater-based epidemiology can be a key component in public health surveillance of COVID-19 and other communicable infections. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10289.