scholarly journals Serological responses to Cryptosporidium antigens among users of surface- vs. ground-water sources

2003 ◽  
Vol 131 (3) ◽  
pp. 1131-1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. FROST ◽  
T. R. KUNDE ◽  
T. B. MULLER ◽  
G. F. CRAUN ◽  
L. M. KATZ ◽  
...  

Cryptosporidium oocysts are commonly detected in surface-derived drinking water. However, the public health significance of these findings is unclear. This study compared serological responses to two Cryptosporidium antigen groups for blood donors and college students using chlorinated and filtered river water vs. ground-water sources. The surface water received agricultural and domestic sewage discharges upstream. Participants from the surface-water city had a higher relative prevalence (RP) of a serological response to the 15/17-kDa antigen group (72·3 vs. 52·4%, RP=1·36, P<0·001) and to the 27-kDa antigen group (82·6 vs. 72·5%, RP=1·14, P<0·02). Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that the people with a shorter duration of residence or drinking bottled water also had a lower seropositivity for each marker. Use of private wells was associated with a higher prevalence of response to the 15/17-kDa markers. Seroconversion to the 15/17-kDa antigen group was more common in the residents of the city using surface water. These findings are consistent with an increased risk of Cryptosporidium infection for users of surface-derived drinking water compared with users of municipal ground-water-derived drinking water. Users of private well water may also have an increased risk of infections.

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 691-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Pumann ◽  
František Kožíšek ◽  
Gunther F. Craun ◽  
Twila R. Kunde ◽  
Marek Malý ◽  
...  

AbstractA survey was conducted in the Czech Republic to determine whether serological responses to the 15/17-kDa and 27-kDa Cryptosporidium antigens had changed since the end of the communist era and if these responses were associated with drinking water sources. Sera from 301 blood donors residing in six areas served by various sources of drinking water were analysed by Western Blot (mini-immunoblots) to measure the IgG response. The intensity of response and percentage of persons with a strong response to the 27-kDa, but not the 15/17-kDa, antigen were higher than found 20 years earlier. A strong response to both the 15/17- and 27-kDa-antigens was higher than reported in other countries, and the probability of persons having a strong response was greater in areas with surface water sources than river-bank infiltration. Few cases of cryptosporidiosis were reported in spite of these high responses to Cryptosporidium antigens. These responses suggest a chronic low-level exposure from several sources that may be affording protection against symptoms and illness. Although strong serological responses were associated with surface water sources, drinking water is not likely to be the most important exposure for Cryptosporidium in the Czech Republic.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Crampton ◽  
Angela T. Ragusa

Agricultural runoff into surface water is a problem in Australia, as it is in arguably all agriculturally active countries. While farm practices and resource management measures are employed to reduce downstream effects, they are often either technically insufficient or practically unsustainable. Therefore, consumers may still be exposed to agrichemicals whenever they turn on the tap. For rural residents surrounded by agriculture, the link between agriculture and water quality is easy to make and thus informed decisions about water consumption are possible. Urban residents, however, are removed from agricultural activity and indeed drinking water sources. Urban and rural residents were interviewed to identify perceptions of agriculture's impact on drinking water. Rural residents thought agriculture could impact their water quality and, in many cases, actively avoided it, often preferring tank to surface water sources. Urban residents generally did not perceive agriculture to pose health risks to their drinking water. Although there are more agricultural contaminants recognised in the latest Australian Drinking Water Guidelines than previously, we argue this is insufficient to enhance consumer protection. Health authorities may better serve the public by improving their proactivity and providing communities and water utilities with the capacity to effectively monitor and address agricultural runoff.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Hamwiinga ◽  
Chisala D. Meki ◽  
Patricia Mubita ◽  
Hikabasa Halwiindi

Abstract Background: One of the factors impeding access to safe water is water pollution. Of particular concern is heavy metal contamination of water bodies. This study was aimed at determining the levels of heavy metals in drinking water sources of Chingola District of Zambia. Methods: A cross sectional study was employed. A total of 60 water samples were collected. Thirsty (30) samples were collected in the dry season in the month of October 2016 and another 30 in the wet season in the months of February and March, 2017. For each season 10 water samples were collected from each of the three water sources. i.e. Tap water, Urban ground water sources and Rural ground water sources. Heavy metal analysis was done using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS).Results: This study revealed that the concentrations of Iron, Manganese, Lead, Nickel and Arsenic were beyond maximum permissible levels in various water sources. Combined averages for both dry and wet seasons were as follows: Iron: 2.3, Copper: 0.63, Cobalt: 0.02, Manganese: 0.36, Lead: 0.04, Zinc:3.2, Nickel: 0.03, Arsenic: 0.05. Chromium and Cadmium were below detection limit in all water samples. The median concentrations of iron, arsenic, copper, manganese in drinking water from the Tap, rural and urban ground water sources were different, and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). The median concentrations of arsenic, nickel, manganese and cobalt were different between dry and wet season, and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusions: Sources of heavy metals in water seems to be both natural and from human activities. The concentration of heavy metals in different water sources in this study was found to be above the recommended levels. This calls for improvement in water monitoring to protect the health of the public. Therefore, there is need for continuous monitoring of heavy metals in drinking water sources by regulatory authorities.


2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.A.S. Gualberto ◽  
L. Heller

Cryptosporidium is a well-known cause of diarrhoea in humans. Little is known about risk factors associated with endemic cryptosporidiosis, which constitutes the majority of cases. We carried out meta-analyses to verify if drinking water is also associated with endemic infection and to assess the magnitude of the associations. The global meta-analysis suggests that there is an increased risk of Cryptosporidium infection among unsafe water users (OR 1.40 [1.15, 1.72]). Studies were stratified, according to the exposure to different sources of safe drinking water, due to the heterogeneity presented. The consumption of non-well and unboiled water was associated with an increased chance of endemic cryptosporidiosis, though only the latter was significant (OR 1.45 [0.95, 2.20]; OR 1.61 [1.09, 2.38]). Drinking non-bottled water did not present a risk factor associated with endemic cryptosporidiosis (OR 0.87 [0.72, 1.05]). These meta-analyses present results that could be useful to clarify the epidemiology of Cryptosporidium. We recommend that other risk factors could also be studied by this approach.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Anowar K Parvez ◽  
Mahfuza Marzan ◽  
Syeda Moriam Liza ◽  
Zia Uddin Ahmed

A total of 114 water samples collected from different parts of Bangladesh were analyzed for the level of reactive nitrogen species NO3 and NH3. Nitrate was determined in 20 surface water, 28 motorized deep tube well and 66 hand operated tube well samples. Ammonia was determined in 18 surface water, 14 deep tube well and 49 hand operated tube well samples. These sites were randomly selected. Nitrate levels were found to be generally low (below 3 mg/l) in 112 of the 114 samples tested, which is much below permissible level of 10 mg/l of drinking water in Bangladesh. Ammonia concentration was, however, found to be about 4 mg/l in majority of the samples tested which is higher than maximum permissible limit of 0.5 mg/l in drinking water. Possible reasons for low level of nitrate and relatively high level of ammonia in surface and ground water samples in Bangladesh is discussed DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbas.v38i1.20214 Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 38, No. 1, 75-82, 2014


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 544-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Sariful Islam ◽  
Sonia Afrin ◽  
Md. Nasif Ahsan ◽  
Mohammed Ziaul Haider ◽  
Tasnim Murad Mamun ◽  
...  

Abstract Nonfunctionality of engineered water sources after two catastrophic cyclones—Sidr in November 2007 and Aila in May 2009—created acute scarcity of safe drinking water in coastal Bangladesh. The objective of this study was to estimate households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for disaster resilient water sources in Dacope upazila of Khulna District in southwestern coastal Bangladesh. By applying the double bounded dichotomous contingent valuation method to a dataset of 250 randomly selected households, we found that the mean WTP is BDT 263 and that inaccessibility to functional safe drinking water sources is the most significant determining factor of households’ WTP. Projecting mean WTP for a disaster resilient water source project in the study area, we measured a present value of aggregate WTP over project’s life span worth about BDT 624 (USD 7.37) million, which is about 14.30 times the present value of project’s aggregate establishment and maintenance cost. However, charging the local inhabitants a water tariff at mean WTP would lead to the exclusion of around 50% of the people from getting access to the improved water services or create a free riding problem. Through simulation exercises this study determined that the socially optimal water tariff is BDT 50 per month. This tariff would not only generate revenue of more than five times the project cost but would also create access to disaster resilient improved drinking water sources for almost 99% of the people.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 52-56
Author(s):  
Bishnu Pandey ◽  
Suman Shakya

This study assesses the rural drinking water quality status in Central Development Region of Nepal. With a total of 250 samples collected from 15 districts of the region, drinking water quality of spring water and ground water representing hill and Terai (lowland) regions were tested and compared for their physicochemical parameters and faecal coliform contamination.None of the spring samples as well as ground water samples violated National Drinking Water Standards (NDWS) for electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), appearance, chloride and nitrate. Similarly none violated the standards for total hardness (TH) indicating soft nature of the water. The spring samples were within the NDWS for manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) whereas 15.4% and 39.0% of the ground water samples violated the standards for manganese and iron, respectively. Gravity water is found to be more alkaline than ground water. Faecal coliforms were the most problematic in both types of sources followed by Ammonia (NH3) and pH in spring sources and by iron, Mn, pH and ammonia in ground water sources, respectively. Spring sources were more contaminated by bacteria than ground water sources. Correlation and regression analysis revealed highly significant correlations between EC and TDS (r=0.979) and between CaH and TH (r=0.988) in ground water suggesting that aquifer chemistry of ground water to be mainly controlled by EC, TDS, TH, and CaH. Similarly, highly significant correlations were found between the following pairs in gravity water: EC and TDS (r=0.983), TA and TDS(r=0.853), CaH and TDS (r=0.912), TH and TDS (r=0.955), EC and CaH (r=0.898), and between CaH and TH (r=0.951).DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v9i0.7074 Hydro Nepal Vol.9 July 2011 52-56


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Osei ◽  
Jonathan Amoyaw ◽  
Godfred Odei Boateng ◽  
Sheila Boamah ◽  
Isaac Luginaah

According to the United Nations, the world has met the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water. However, global figures mask massive disparities between regions and countries, and within countries. For instance, only 64% of the people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to improved water sources. Over 40% of all people globally who lack access to drinking water live in sub-Saharan Africa. Rwanda is used as a case in point in this study. Despite the abundance of water resources in the country, access to improved water sources is limited. Using the Rwandan Demographic and Health Surveys (2000–2010), we examined regional disparities in access to improved water sources. Results from logistic regression models show that overall, access to improved water has declined between 2000 and 2010; except in the western region, where access to water marginally improved. Educated individuals, wealthier and urban dwellers were more likely to have access to improved water sources over time compared to their uneducated, poor and rural counterparts. The persistence of regional disparities in access to improved water over time suggests the need for policy to address insufficient investments in water infrastructure in Rwanda.


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