Epidemiology: Making sense of public health data from many different sources—including the sewer!

An epidemiologist from Chicago’s Public Health Department and friend of the show Peter DeJonge stopped by to get in the weeds – and the sewers – to talk about epidemiology and wastewater surveillance. Peter describes epidemiology as a population-level study of patterns, trends, and different characteristics of disease, whether that’s infectious, chronic, or broader health issues. Peter and Brian discuss the differences in their day-to-day jobs as an epidemiologist and clinician in public health. They also touch on a new addition to epidemiology—sampling Chicago’s wastewater—and how it complements other sources of public health information in the city, leading to improved decision-making.

See CDPH’s epidemiologic data and reports (2012-2024): https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/cdph/supp_info/data-reports/previously_releasedreports.html

Learn more about Wastewater Surveillance in Chicago: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/covid-19/home/covid-19-wastewater-surveillance.html