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OT: Covid wastewater surveillance?

(15 posts)
  • Started 9 months ago by SRD
  • Latest reply from Arellcat
  • This topic is resolved

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  1. SRD
    Moderator

    totally off topic but people here tend to know things...

    I saw something recently saying that Scotland was still collecting data on covid prevalence in wasterwater, although England is not.

    Does anyone know where to find that data?

    I suppose that if there is anything interesting in it, someone will report it, but am curious.

    Thanks

    Posted 9 months ago #
  2. Stickman
    Member

  3. Frenchy
    Member

    SEPA also seems to publish data: https://informatics.sepa.org.uk/RNAmonitoring/

    Posted 9 months ago #
  4. SRD
    Moderator

    Thank you @stickman I think I did see those links but couldn't find the wastewater data.

    Also thank you @FRenchy I looked at Sepa but couldn't find anything up to date there. I need to work on my webpage navigating!

    Any thoughts on the data? Is a breakdown by region ever made available?

    Given low testing /reporting it seems like wastewater is more reliable than anything else.

    The usual people online seem more than usually hyped up. and even the Daily Mail has run a column on the need to wear masks (!).

    Levels very high in Canada.

    Posted 9 months ago #
  5. Stickman
    Member

    I think at the moment flu is of most concern in Scotland.

    Posted 9 months ago #
  6. SRD
    Moderator

    Seems reasonable. I am definitely not inclined to be alarmist. but I find the lack of data frustrating.

    Posted 9 months ago #
  7. Baldcyclist
    Member

    More off topic, excess deaths in UK are arround 10% higher than pre COVID levels (worldwide trend is the same). If you are in 25 - 50 demographic it's around 15% higher. No one seems to be trying to find out why - well they know the causes but not why they are much higher .Heart disease of varying types seem to account for a big proportion of those excess deaths, diabetes deaths up 13% as well. COVID not causing deaths.

    Posted 9 months ago #
  8. Stickman
    Member

    Excess death measurements are heavily dependent on baseline assumptions, including population growth and mortality improvements, so results from different organisations can very different.

    I’ve seen some recent analysis which updates for the 2021 England & Wales Census results that shows there is actually very little excess other than Covid, seasonal flu and heatwave-related deaths. Also, correcting for date of death rather than date of death registration changes the picture significantly.

    We won’t have a true picture of excess deaths for many years. Analysis is still being done on the impact of the 1918 flu pandemic!

    Posted 9 months ago #
  9. Baldcyclist
    Member

    Article looking at 2022/23 ONS data
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666776223002211?via%3Dihub

    OECD data:
    https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=104676

    Article was highlighted in YouTube video, (Dr Jon Campbell)

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Flash Videos

    His view reading the article (though he won't say it out loud) seems to be that the vaccine is causing the deaths. I have no clue about whether that is likely or not (and I am a fully paid up member of the vaccine club), however it does seem that if there is such a marked increaase in excess death worldwide investigating further seems prudent to find out what the actual causes are, whether vaccine or failing NHS, or lazy population since covid, or whatever.

    From article:

    "Excess deaths in 2022, 52,514 (9.26%)

    This persisted into 2023 with 8.6% or 28,024 more deaths registered in the first six months of the year than expected.

    OECD, UK, weeks 1 – 44, 2023

    Excess deaths, 49,389 (9.44%)

    The causes of these excess deaths are likely to be multiple and could include the direct effects of Covid-19 infection,

    acute pressures on NHS acute services resulting in poorer outcomes from episodes of acute illness,

    and disruption to chronic disease detection and management.

    Further analysis by cause and by age- and sex-group may help quantify the relative contributions of these causes.

    Office for Health Improvement and Disparities

    3rd June 2022 to 30th June 2023

    Excess deaths for all causes were relatively greatest for 50–64 year olds (15% higher than expected)

    11% higher for 25–49 and under 25 year olds,

    and about 9% higher for over 65s

    Several causes

    3rd June 2022–30th June 2023

    All cardiovascular diseases, 12%

    Heart failure, 20%

    Ischaemic heart disease, 15%

    Liver diseases, 19%

    Acute respiratory infections, 14%

    Diabetes, 13%

    For middle-aged adults (50–64)

    Cardiovascular diseases, 33% higher than expected

    Ischaemic heart disease, 44%

    Cerebrovascular disease, 40%

    Heart failure 39% higher

    Deaths involving acute respiratory infections, 43% higher

    Diabetes, deaths were 35% higher

    The pattern now is one of persisting excess deaths which are most prominent in relative terms in middle-aged and younger adults

    Timely and granular analyses are needed to describe such trends and so to inform prevention and disease management efforts.

    JP-S is Partner at Lane Clark & Peacock LLP, Chair of the Royal Society for Public Health and reports personal fees from Novo Nordisk and Pfizer Ltd outside of this submitted work."

    Posted 9 months ago #
  10. Stickman
    Member

    John Campbell should not be trusted. He pivoted to appealing to the anti-vax crowd when he saw the monetary rewards from increased YouTube engagement. His videos are full of misunderstandings and errors.

    And I say this as someone who, while not an expert, is definitely at the “more informed” end of the spectrum.

    Posted 9 months ago #
  11. Baldcyclist
    Member

    "John Campbell should not be trusted"

    Thats a fair comment, however all he is doing in this video is presenting the words of an article written by a person who is the Chair of the Royal Society for Public Health.

    The data is the data, and is correct, it's not Campbell's data.

    I'd agree with the anti vax undertones of his commentary and take that with a pinch of salt, but that is exactly why we do need to know the reasons for the deaths - which are eye wateringly high in comparison to pre covid, so that is recorded data as well, rather than people like Campbell making the ascertion that, oh the author of the paper get's paid by Pzizer and that's why the article doesn't make the connection.

    Posted 9 months ago #
  12. Stickman
    Member

    I would challenge quite strongly your comment that “No one seems to be trying to find out why”. These things take time and can’t be updated as quickly as the headline analysis. (I know - indeed used to work with - one of the article authors, so that isn’t meant as a dig).

    Posted 9 months ago #
  13. SRD
    Moderator

    The article is extremely careful to not impute any causes. It's just a one page report of the data.

    It does list several possible cases "direct effects of Covid-19 infection, acute pressures on NHS acute services resultng in poorer outcomes from episodes of acute illness, and disruption to chronic disease detection and management."

    But vaccines are not there.

    Posted 9 months ago #
  14. Morningsider
    Member

    Totally outside my ken this issue, but the concept of 'excess deaths' could almost have been designed for eternal argument amongst academics. You have statistics vs. data, with the excess (and presumably also underestimates) being the difference between the two. The question is then "How big a difference and why?"

    I can just imagine the rival theories, huge egos, academic articles little better than diss tracks. Who says maths isn't fun! (Okay, I might have said that at some point).

    Posted 9 months ago #
  15. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Doing maths is fun! It's the weaponised context and the deadlines and the drudgery that makes it not fun.

    Posted 9 months ago #

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