GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Across the country, cases of COVID-19, influenza and RSV are increasing with cooler weather and as people gather for holidays.
In Michigan, the deputy state epidemiologist says the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is seeing increases week after week for the past few months.
"CDC is seeing nationally, again, nationally, seeing some of the highest numbers of COVID wastewater concentrations that they've seen, at least over the last 12 months," said Joe Coyle, deputy state epidemiologist.
In Michigan, and the Midwest, Coyle said there may be higher than average levels detected in wastewater than certain areas of the country.
"I don't think we are over over our peak yet, necessarily, for RSV, definitely not over our peak for COVID, and influenza is just starting," said Coyle.
In Kent County, public health officials are also seeing the trend.
"This time of year, we're seeing a lot of rise in overall communicable disease like that," said Andrew Salisbury, supervising sanitarian at Kent County Health Department (KCHD), "So, we are seeing a slight increase in COVID numbers across the county, as well as some isolated spots in our facilities."
One of the main ways to monitor COVID levels is with wastewater testing. It provides a clearer picture of the disease in a community than home testing, Salisbury said.
"This truly gives us a way to monitor COVID levels across the community, and as well as an isolated facilities to give them a heads up of potential cases in the community," said Salisbury, "We've been able to detect cases in wastewater up to a few days before people even symptomatic."
He said they are also able to detect specific variants with wastewater testing.
Kent County has around 20 sites across the county where they collect wastewater for testing. Much of the sample prep is done at Grand Valley State University's Cellular and Molecular Biology Department. Then, it arrives to the lab at KCHD to be analyzed.
"We can really narrow down maybe one area of the city that has it," said Salisbury, "As well as working with some of our other smaller units, where we can say, 'Hey, in your facility, we're testing right outside your facility, we're seeing a rise.' We can give prevention methods for that exact facility that are a little more pinpointed."
Coyle said it is not too late to get vaccinated for influenza or COVID-19 this season.
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