This method was tested during the Covid-19 pandemic and will also be applied for influenza and bronchiolitis, in order to monitor the evolution of the circulation of these infections.
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SUM’Eau. This is the name of “new wastewater monitoring system” which was revealed on Thursday, October 5, by the Director General of Public Health France, Caroline Semaille during a press conference. Wastewater will now be sampled and monitored to monitor the evolution of viral infections.
If this new type of surveillance focuses first on Covid-19, it is because the system has already been tested to provide information on the evolution of this virus. The first data, published by SUM’Eau on Thursday evening, show the clear rebound of the epidemic since the summer in France. Every week, a sample will be taken from twelve wastewater treatment stations, in each of the regions of mainland France with the exception of Corsica, and selected based on population and territorial representativeness criteria.
LThe agency will then extend its surveillance to influenza and bronchiolitis. After last winter, marked by a triple Covid-flu-bronchiolitis epidemic, the objective is to “better assess the burden of winter viruses on public health and the healthcare system”, explained the director general of Public Health France. The data collected, after analysis of the samples collected, cannot, however, serve as the only indicator to estimate the evolution of infections. These results will be cross-referenced with other indicators by Public Health France.