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MICROBES IN DRINKING WATER: RECENT EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RESEARCH TO ASSESS WATERBORNE RISKS
Citation:
Calderon, R L. MICROBES IN DRINKING WATER: RECENT EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RESEARCH TO ASSESS WATERBORNE RISKS. Craun, G; Hauchman, F; Robinson, D. (ed.), Microbial Pathogens and Disinfection By-Products in Drinking Water: Health Effects and Management of Risks(book is a compliation of papers presented at the 2nd International Conference on Safety of Water Disinfection). International Life Sciences (ILSI) Press, Washington, DC, , 137-147.
Description:
The waterborne transmission of enteric pathogens to humans causes illnesses that occur as an epidemic (a temporal excess of cases over some background level of disease), often called an outbreak, or as endemic disease (a background of ongoing disease prevalence that can be constant or sporadic) (Figure 1). Historically, the primary concern has been with the detection and investigation of waterborne outbreaks. However, recent studies suggest that endemic waterborne disease may account for between 14% and 34% of all gastrointestinal illnesses (Payment et al. 1997, 1991). Endemic waterborne diseases probably occur sporadically, raising the endemic level of gastrointestinal disease temporarily to a hyperendemic level, and may occur as an unrecognized outbreak. In this article the latest epidemiological research and surveillance for drinking water-related disease are reviewed for both endemic and epidemic microbe-related gastrointestinal disease.