Biobot has always believed in the transformative power of wastewater data for public health. We started by making this important data available during the COVID-19 pandemic to fill critical data gaps nationally in an easily digestible way. Our data not only helped the public, but empowered public health departments and researchers to utilize its potential. But as the field of wastewater epidemiology has matured, and the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved, so is our approach to public data sharing. At the start of this year’s respiratory season, we piloted a new model for sharing data with the publi ..read more

In recent years, public health has faced unprecedented challenges due to the rapidly evolving landscape of substance use, particularly with the rising prevalence of synthetic opioids and novel psychoactive substances. New substances emerge, use patterns shift, and traditional data sources often lag behind. This is where wastewater epidemiology steps in as a game-changer. By analyzing wastewater samples with advanced analytics, we can gain valuable, real-time insights into community drug use. Traditional data sources, like hospital admissions or death certificates, can be delayed or incomplete ..read more

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology proved to be a vital tool for hospital systems and healthcare providers in safe operational planning. As wastewater data revealed the impending spike in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, for example, Boston Children’s Hospital responded by rescheduling nonemergency procedures to limit unnecessary exposure risk.  Although the public emergency has ended, wastewater data continues to provide value to the healthcare ecosystem, with growing interest from and impact for providers, distributors, manufacturers, payers, and edu ..read more

In 2021 and 2022, attorneys general in almost every state reached financial settlements to resolve opioid litigation, resulting in $56B settlement funds.  These funds present an incredible opportunity for states to enhance prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts for opioid use, potentially marking a decisive shift in the battle against the opioid epidemic. While these settlement funds are substantial, they are not limitless. Our challenge lies in utilizing these resources judiciously to save as many lives as possible and effectively combat this ongoing wave of preventable deaths. Guid ..read more

In addition to identifying common infectious disease pathogens like influenza or SARS-CoV-2, wastewater epidemiology proves invaluable in detecting a diverse array of substances, from illicit drugs to environmental toxins. This data generated from wastewater can inform public health strategies, first responder efforts, and urban planning initiatives. In our dynamically evolving scientific landscape, wastewater epidemiology has emerged as an increasingly essential tool for understanding public health at a community level. To tackle the opioid epidemic, a holistic community perspective paired wi ..read more

While Biobot is best known for its infectious disease efforts, the company’s first wastewater monitoring platform was actually built in 2017 to help tackle the opioid overdose epidemic. In early 2020, Biobot paused its opioid work to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, but never lost sight of the important work to be done within the high-risk substance space. In 2022, the U.S. saw a record-breaking number of fatal overdoses, a crisis that only grew worse  during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, last fall Biobot launched its new and improved High Risk Substance Wastewater Platform (HRS Plat ..read more

This respiratory season, there are now vaccines available for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. As vaccination expands across the US, the ability to monitor virus concentrations in sewage in parallel with vaccine rollout – along with reported cases and hospitalizations – can provide real-world evidence for, and improve our understanding of, the impact of vaccination on reducing the spread of these respiratory pathogens. Monitoring wastewater data provides invaluable insight. SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus, and RSV are shed in the stool and urine of infected individuals and aggregated in public sewers ..read more

Coming this fall to a college campus near you, but it’s not a scary movie. The “tripledemic” is a dangerous combination of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV, and it has the potential to wreak havoc on campuses and communities this winter season. What can we do about it? The answer can be found in our sewage. Wastewater intelligence holds the keys to predicting, tracking, and staying a step ahead of this respiratory virus triple threat. The problem: Respiratory viruses take a heavy toll Influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 are a drain on the U.S. economy, a burden on the healthcare system, and a strain on c ..read more

We learned so much during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing, remote learning, contact tracing, P.P.E., isolation, superspreader – these words became part of our standard vernacular. As a society, we were forced to change the ways in which we did just about everything. And we were confronted with harsh realities about health disparities, unequal access to healthcare, mental health burden, and a lack of systematic pandemic readiness. We’ve also learned that when battling a pandemic, data is absolutely critical – and COVID-19 showed us that traditional clinical and public health monitoring ..read more

The global health landscape has been significantly impacted by the emergence and spread of several viral diseases, including Influenza A and B (flu), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Coronavirus (Covid-19). For the first time, we have vaccines available for all three of these viruses, but we are also facing the increased risk that these viruses will circulate simultaneously or concurrently, not only upending daily life but posing a serious health risk to millions of people across the country. During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw first-hand how campus outbreaks led to a disrup ..read more