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County epidemiologist and state present seasonal respiratory review and wastewater surveillance successes
Summary
Pitkin County’s epidemiologist summarized the tail of respiratory season—early influenza A driven hospitalizations, late RSV, and low COVID activity—while a state wastewater program lead described how wastewater monitoring detects trends (COVID, flu, RSV, measles, EV‑D68) and provided examples where wastewater gave early warning to local partners.
Pitkin County received a public‑health briefing on May 12 that combined a local epidemiology update with a detailed presentation from the Colorado wastewater surveillance team.
Carly, the county epidemiologist, said influenza A was the major driver of hospitalizations earlier this season because a subclade (subclade K) did not match well with vaccine strains; national data show flu vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization near 30 percent. She reported a late‑season increase in RSV that contributed to hospitalizations and described a relatively quiet COVID‑19 season so far, while noting the emergence of a BA.3.2 variant that could increase summer activity. Carly also highlighted national and regional measles activity, reporting roughly 1,700–1,800 U.S. cases in 2026 so far and noting Pitkin County’s kindergarten vaccination coverage at about 96 percent, while cautioning about local pockets of vulnerability.
Allison, who leads Colorado’s wastewater surveillance effort, presented the program’s sentinel‑site model, testing workflow, and the pathogens being monitored (COVID, flu A/B, RSV, enterovirus D68, measles, West Nile pilot, and a Candida auris pilot). She explained limitations—septic systems and decentralized sites are not captured; high‑tourism sewer sheds (like Aspen at times) can produce variable signals—and described three success stories: wastewater signaled EV‑D68 before clinical cases in 2022, detected H5 signals related to dairy processing inputs during 2024, and picked up measles in Mesa County ahead of clinical detection. Allison emphasized the public dashboard used to share trends with local partners and said the program supplements clinical surveillance rather than replacing it.
Board members asked about local septic coverage; Allison estimated about 20 percent of Coloradans are not on wastewater treatment plants and Pitkin County has several separate utilities (Aspen, Snowmass Village, Redstone) while much of the rest is on septic. Members discussed how tourism affects signal stability and how wastewater data inform hospital and provider preparedness.
