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In France, since the first wave of coronavirus, a surveillance network has been set up discreetly … underground. This is because the virus can be detected in stool, and then in wastewater, four to seven days before symptoms appear. In Marseille “this approach made it possible to avoid a cluster in at least two nursing homes”, explains Dr Damien Thomas, research director for an analytical laboratory, to the microphone of Europe 1.
According to the doctor, the first results are encouraging. City firefighters have been taking sewage samples for several weeks to locate sick people who ignore each other. The laboratory then manages the analysis: “This detection made it possible to implement all the disinfection and isolation measures even before the first symptoms appear,” he says.
Anticipate screening tests
This method is limited as some nursing home residents are incontinent, wear diapers and therefore do not go to the bathroom. The interest, however, is also that of being able to analyze the stools of the staff of the plants. “The ‘photo’ we are going to take does not concern all our users, instead it allows us to make sure that our employees are not carriers of the virus”, says Emilien Chayia, general manager of the Medeos Pension group of residences.
Stating that the virus was detected in one of its factories supervised by the device, he explains that a series of pre-scheduled tests could have been anticipated and that two infected employees have been identified. If it proves its effectiveness on a larger scale, this tool could also be used at the time of decontamination to anticipate an epidemic recovery.
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