Delaware Poop indicates 15x higher rate of infection

[Delarage]

Than has generally been reported in Delaware's most populous county. This must be a very rough estimate, but I'm sure the rates of infection are much higher than anyone knows, absent a good testing system in this country.

Last week, county officials sent a sample of raw sewage from the Wilmington Wastewater Treatment plant on 12th Street to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology startup. There, they compared the prevalence of genetic fragments from the virus in fecal matter against local population data and sewage flow rates – all in an effort to estimate how many people may have the virus.

[link:https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2020/04/23/new-castle-county-poop-suggests-higher-covid-19-infection-rate/3015643001/|

[mr_lebowski]

1. Kinda gross, but clever as well, assuming it actually returns reliable results ...

Seems like there'd be a pretty high chance of cross-contamination ... it being, you know, sewage and all.

But I suppose they have ways of accounting for this.

And I don't want to know how.

[LuckyCharms]

2. Poop always tells a story.

[tulipsandroses]

3. Reminds me of the discussion I heard earlier today about the possibility of getting Covid 19 from

a toilet. Not conclusive yet - its still being studied but all the more reason for me to stay home so I don't end up using a public restroom.


Droplets of SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19, can be spread and live in the air for up to 3 hours, and be disseminated to hard surface areas where they can live up to 3 to 4 days. That is quite concerning when you consider that flushing a toilet can create an aerosolized plume of these viral particles, which can then spread elsewhere within proximity.


][link:https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/928234|

[Walleye]

4. Damn! Now I'm worried. I've been self quarantined for 2 months.

But I have to start radiation treatments on Monday.

[diva77]

9. best wishes for safe, successful, pain-free (hopefully!) treatments

[Walleye]

10. Thank you!😊

[Renew Deal]

5. It sounds like Delawares most poopulous county

[Walleye]

11. 😹

[Midnightwalk]

6. Details if you can stomach them

I was curious so I sniffed around.

Luckily (or not) it wasn’t hard to follow the scent.

[link:https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/04/09/massachusetts-scientists-probe-nations-sewage-for-coronavirus-clues|]

First this should settle any doubts the glamour of working in science

Alm, who’s overseen a huge stool transplant organization at MIT, said, “After processing about 10 tons of stool from donors, I feel very qualified to assess the average size of a human poop — and it’s 200 grams.” Multiply that times the number of people, add in the assumption that people defecate once per day, and you’re able to figure out how much of the sewage is feces.

I’m sure the math is hard to digest but the concept is alimentary

The main point of uncertainty is how many COVID-19 particles are in one average-sized stool of an infected person — a topic that’s been the subject of multiple reports with varying numbers. Taking the highest number of coronavirus particles per defecation, the data suggest that .1% of people, or 2,300 have the virus. Taking the lowest number per stool, 115,000 people — or 5% of the population there — have the virus.

“These calculations are very conservative,” Alm said. Asked whether the high number is likelier than the lower one, he said, “If I were to gamble, I’d put my money on the upper bound.”

That’s all for now. I have the runs.

[Walleye]

12. Funny and informative

[Hermit-The-Prog]

8. Shit's gettin' real.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. You Just Had To, Didn't You?

Well done!

[Buns_of_Fire]

14. Maybe Mikey will tour the facilities. Bet he wears a mask this time. nt

[Buns_of_Fire]

15. I originally thought it was a lesser-known daily.

You know, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Miami Herald, the Delaware Poop...