3 ms·

I've seen two other neat ways proposed to try to track the virus: (1) Do PCR tests on wastewater. Viruses show up in excrement, and sewer pipes are a ready-mad

I've seen two other neat ways proposed to try to track the virus: (1) Do PCR tests on wastewater. Viruses show up in excrement, and sewer pipes are a ready-made aggregate sample collection system. See https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.29.20045880v1 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.29.20045880v... (2) Figure out which keywords correlate with other data about the spread, then mine social media data for those keywords. See https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.24.20026682v1 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.24.20026682v...

joelvalleroy 7y ago
Would 1) work if the tap water has chlorine? Can a dead or inactivated virus still be tested for? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-chlorine-added-t-1998-05-04/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-chlorine... "To ensure continued protection against harmful organisms, a certain amount of chlorine must remain in the water after treatment. The remaining chlorine is known as a residual chlorine. It is this tiny amount that you sometimes smell in your tap water." https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/water.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/water.html "Can the COVID-19 virus spread through pools and hot tubs? There is no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread to humans through the use of pools and hot tubs. Proper operation, maintenance, and disinfection (e.g., with chlorine and bromine) of pools and hot tubs should remove or inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19."
- adrianmonk 7y ago
  Chlorination is an interesting question. On the one hand, the paper says the researchers did tests of actual sewage and found it worked in practice. On the other hand, wikipedia says (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_the_Netherlands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in...) chlorine isn't generally added to the water supply in the Netherlands.
- Metacelsus 7y ago
  RNA isn't very stable, so I wouldn't be hopeful
ksk 7y ago
That's interesting, but how do you plan to sample microlitres of volume from thousands of gallons? At which physical location would would you take the sample?

joelvalleroy 7y ago

Would 1) work if the tap water has chlorine? Can a dead or inactivated virus still be tested for? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-chlorine-added-t-1998-05-04/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-chlorine... "To ensure continued protection against harmful organisms, a certain amount of chlorine must remain in the water after treatment. The remaining chlorine is known as a residual chlorine. It is this tiny amount that you sometimes smell in your tap water." https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/water.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/water.html "Can the COVID-19 virus spread through pools and hot tubs? There is no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread to humans through the use of pools and hot tubs. Proper operation, maintenance, and disinfection (e.g., with chlorine and bromine) of pools and hot tubs should remove or inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19."

adrianmonk 7y ago
Chlorination is an interesting question. On the one hand, the paper says the researchers did tests of actual sewage and found it worked in practice. On the other hand, wikipedia says (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_the_Netherlands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in...) chlorine isn't generally added to the water supply in the Netherlands.
Metacelsus 7y ago
RNA isn't very stable, so I wouldn't be hopeful

ksk 7y ago

That's interesting, but how do you plan to sample microlitres of volume from thousands of gallons? At which physical location would would you take the sample?