How waste water testing provides an efficient way to predict public health

As the holiday season and cold weather settles in, illness abounds in the community.

During the lead up to the holidays, public health officials in Windsor urged the public to get vaccinated, stayhome when you're sick and continue to be vigilant against COVID-19 and other respiratory infections.

"Heading into the holidays, everyone can play a part in helping to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses," Dr. Mehdi Aloosh, medical officer of health for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, said in a statement.

Currently about 11 per cent of the Windsor-Essex population is up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines.

Quick responses

Mike McKay is the director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research.

He told Windsor Morning's Amy Dodge that waste water analysis is crucial in determining public health outcomes going into the colder months.

"It relies on people getting tested or thresholds for people who are eligibleto get tested."

Windsor Morning8:55Waste water reveals RSV and other illness are dipping going into the holidays

Mike McKay, director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, share what our waste water is forecasting in terms of public health. Mike tells Windsor Morning host Amy Dodge about the lower rates of illness we are seeing going into the holidays.

The community benefits

Though wastewater testing is relatively new, it provides a more efficient and rounded view of community health.

Aloosh called it "one of the crucial tools" in tracking and monitoring infectious diseases.

"By collecting and testing sewage samples, experts can detect specific diseases, providing valuable insights into community health trends over time," he said.

"This approach is especially valuable when faced with limited laboratory testing, offering a non-invasive and cost-effective means of monitoring disease activity."

"Those are really underreported diseases," McKay said. "That's where waste water testing is really showing its potential benefit to public health because without the testing we would have very little information on the trajectories of those diseases in a community."

"If there was cause for more concern in the community, [such as] a new variant, we could certainly increase the frequency."

"It's still not too late for people to get their flu shots."