ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: Water plays a major role in public health and the contaminated water has direct effect on human health. E.coli is an indicator of water pollution; different strains of E.coli such as ETEC, EHEC, EIEC and EPEC can cause diarrhea in children. The aim of this study is to investigate the contamination rate of well water of Tehran's parks, and pathotyping E.coli strains which cause diarrhea
Materials and Methods: 156 well water samples from five different geographical parts of Tehran [north, south, east, west, and the centre] were collected aseptically. The collected samples were transferred to the laboratory in microbiology section, School of Public Health, for membrane filtrations and patotyping
Results: 90 out of 156 samples [54/5%] were contaminated with E.coli. The samples from south part were more contaminated compared to others. Out of 90 isolated E.coli only 67 were DEC, in which 42 [62.7%] were detected as EPEC, 12 [17.9%] as STEC or ETEC, 9 [13.4%] as EIEC and 4 [6%] as ETEC by PCR method
Conclusion: Presence of different biotypes of E.coli in well water of parks can be dangerous, especially for children; thus, placing warning signs and educating people in this regard should be taken seriously