The University of Bath is launching what’s described as the UK’s first early-warning public health surveillance system based on detecting tiny traces of chemicals and biological markers found in water.
The Centre of Excellence in Water-Based Early-Warning Systems for Health Protection (CWBE) will collect and analyse community (waste)water that they say could be used to alert public health teams of new outbreaks, helping hospitals to prepare for treating patients and take infection control measures to minimise further spread.
“As well as helping prevent pandemics by detecting disease spread early, research at the Centre will provide better understanding of chronic, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and health risk factors,” said an announcement issued by the University of Bath.
CWBE is led by Professor Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, from the University’s Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change, along with partners including Wessex Water, the UK Health Security Agency and departments from the UK Government.
Researchers will work with partners at Wessex Water to collect and analyse weekly water samples from four “living labs” in the urban catchment areas of Bath and Bristol, and the more rural catchments of Paulton and Radstock in Somerset.
“The team will analyse the samples for hundreds of trace chemicals as well as pathogen markers such as virus and bacterial RNA/DNA, which can act as an early-warning system for outbreaks of infectious diseases,” said the statement.
The team will also track chemicals excreted by the body indicating chronic disease, stress or inflammation, use of medications or illicit drugs, dietary habits or exposure to pesticides, hazardous chemicals, and household and personal care products.
This information can be analysed alongside prescription data, demographics and other information to give a snapshot of the health of the community at population level, and the local environment, so-called wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).
Initial data from CWBE will provide a baseline over one year, after which researchers can introduce and test interventions to improve public health.
Once established successfully at Bath, the team hopes this system will be rolled out nationwide.
Professor Kasprzyk-Hordern, from the University of Bath’s Department of Chemistry, said: “We saw during the Covid-19 pandemic how useful it was to get data on numbers infected and their location, but it took days to get data back from PCR tests and was very expensive.
“Since whole communities contribute to wastewater, monitoring it is several orders of magnitude cheaper and faster than clinical screening.
“WBE is comprehensive, anonymous and unbiased – it can pick up asymptomatic cases, those from difficult-to-reach communities or areas lacking testing infrastructure.
“By using wastewater-based epidemiology we are enabling public health experts to monitor health and environmental risks quickly and efficiently.”
As well as detecting infectious disease outbreaks, the Centre also has research projects planned to identify new synthetic drugs being used in communities, and to study the effects of diet and lifestyle choices with chronic health conditions.
Dr Matthew Wade, from the UK Health Security Agency and Visiting Fellow at the University of Bath, said: “The UKHSA has been working closely with Barbara’s team at the University of Bath for several years to develop a national wastewater monitoring system for infectious diseases and collecting public health data.
“We’re delighted to continue to be part of this important project and very excited to achieve this milestone of launching the UK’s first pilot wastewater monitoring centre.”
Ruth Barden, Director of Environmental Solutions at Wessex Water and Visiting Fellow at the University of Bath’s Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change, said: “Wessex Water is excited to be taking our longstanding partnership with the University of Bath to the next level with this new centre.
“CWBE is taking an innovative ‘One Health’ approach that will help monitor the health of the environment as well as the community, and we are proud to be part of this important project.”
