Wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 in shelters: A creative strategy for a complex setting.

COVID-19 public health surveillance vulnerable populations wastewater-based epidemiological monitoring

Journal

Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada
ISSN: 1188-4169
Titre abrégé: Can Commun Dis Rep
Pays: Canada
ID NLM: 9303729

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
01 Jan 2024
Historique:
medline: 24 4 2024
pubmed: 24 4 2024
entrez: 24 4 2024
Statut: epublish

Résumé

People experiencing homelessness experience disproportionate rates of morbidity and mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) compared to the general population and shelters for people experiencing homelessness are a major contributing factor to these negative outcomes. As a result of their unique structure, population and physical space, these settings pose several challenges to the prevention of COVID-19 infection that are not adequately addressed by conventional non-pharmaceutical public health interventions. Wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 is a viable strategy for health protection in shelters due to its ability to meet these unique challenges. Its passive nature does not depend on individual health-seeking behaviours, and it can provide useful epidemiological information early on in an outbreak setting. In this commentary, the authors examine a recent application of wastewater surveillance of COVID-19 in a men's shelter in Toronto. Further applications of wastewater surveillance for other infectious diseases of concern in shelters are proposed, and the need for the development of ethical frameworks governing the use of this technology is discussed.

Identifiants

pubmed: 38655242
doi: 10.14745/ccdr.v50i12a07
pii: 501207
pmc: PMC11037884
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Pagination

58-62

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests None.

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Auteurs

Chalani Ranasinghe (C)

Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Stefan Baral (S)

Inner City Health Associates, Toronto, ON.
Knowledge Translation Program, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Rebecca Stuart (R)

Toronto Public Health, Toronto, ON.

Claire Oswald (C)

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON.

Sharon Straus (S)

Knowledge Translation Program, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON.
Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Amir Tehrani (A)

Department of Chemistry and Biology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON.

Kimberley Gilbride (K)

Department of Chemistry and Biology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON.

Princilla Agyemang (P)

Inner City Health Associates, Toronto, ON.

Aaron Orkin (A)

Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
Inner City Health Associates, Toronto, ON.
MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Classifications MeSH