Prevalence of Waterborne Diseases in Bade, Nguru and Machina Local Government Areas of Yobe State-Nigeria

Waterborne diseases are mainly caused by consuming food or water tainted with faecal matter or urine of human or animal which contains pathogens. Records have shown that YobeState is one of the states in Nigeria that have recorded mortalities due to waterborne infections. Thisstudy is aimed at identifying common waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, infectious hepatitis, giadiasis, amoebiasis, and dracunculiasis between 2017 and 2019 in three local Government Areas (L.G.As) of Yobe State. Personal interview was employed to generate information from the local people on sources of drinking water in three sampled geo –political wards (Bade, Nguru and Machine L.G.As). Results revealed that most of the dwellers in the study area drink from non –potable water sources such as faucets, hand pump, wash boreholes, wells, rivers, pools and creeks. Results also show that people from the study area do not drink potable water. A total of 1204 cholera cases were reported between 2017 and 2019 in the study areas with Machina L.G.A having the highest number of cases (446) representing 37.04% of the total cases. Mortality due to cholera outbreak in all the surveyed LG.As was 124 with Bade L.G.A having the highest number (43) constituting 34.68% of total mortalities in the study areas. A total of 11,938 persons were infected with typhoid during the study period and Nguru L.G.A recorded the highest number of infections (4,438) representing 37.18% of total infections. Gender based percentage prevalence of typhoid in the study is higher in males (52.83%) than females (47.18%). Recommendations on how to overcome the menace have been highlighted.

Acesso ao Saneamento básico e Incidência de Cólera: uma análise quantitativa entre 2010 e 2015 / Access to basic and analytical sanitation of cholera: a quantitative analysis between 2010 and 2015

RESUMO As condições de saneamento básico são um dos principais determinantes nos índices de agravos à saúde humana, principalmente no tocante a doenças infectocontagiosas por veiculação hídrica. Dentre todas, destacamos neste trabalho a cólera: doença entérica causada pelas cepas toxigênicas do Vibrio cholerae (sorogrupos O1 e O139), que é caracterizada por um quadro de acentuada diarreia. O objetivo deste trabalho, por meio de levantamento de dados mundiais de Incidência de Cólera (IC) e percentual populacional de Acesso ao Saneamento (AS), é quantificar, evidenciar e discutir a relação entre esses dois indicadores no período de 2010 a 2015, assim como apontar outros possíveis fatores magnificantes de vulnerabilidade socioambiental para a patologia. No período analisado, foram registrados 1.575.168 casos da doença, com as maiores incidências na região do subcontinente áfrico-asiático e em países isolados nos demais continentes, como, por exemplo, Haiti (América) e Papua Nova Guiné (Oceania), que também apresentaram sérios problemas de acessibilidade a serviços de saneamento. Desta forma, apesar de sugerirmos a análise de outros fatores socioambientais, as condições de saneamento revelaram-se como um determinante expressivo para a incidência da cólera em todas as regiões do mundo.

ABSTRACT Health conditions are among the main factors leading to human health damages, particularly concerning infectious diseases by water transmission. Among those cholera is highlighted in this work: the virus infection of Vibrio cholerae toxicity (serogroups O1 and O139), which is characterized by marked diarrhea. Using incidence data on cholera (CI) and the population percentage of Access to Sanitation (AS) collected throughout the world, the objective of this work is to quantify, highlight and discuss relationship between those two indicators over the period from 2010 to 2015, besides pointing out other possible magnifying factors of socioenvironmental vulnerability to this pathology. Over that period, 1,575,168 cases of the illness were analyzed, showing more frequent occurrences in the region of the African-Asian subcontinent and isolated countries in the other continents, such as Haiti (America) and Papua New Guinea (Oceania), which also presented serious problems regarding the access to sanitation services. Thus, although we suggest other socioenvironmental factors to also be analyzed sanitation conditions proved to be an expressive determinant for the incidence of cholera in all regions worldwide.

Risk of Water and Food-Borne Communicable Diseases in Travelers Entering Korea

OBJECTIVES: It was supposed to analyze status and affecting factors in water and food-borne communicable disease by screening entrants with diarrhea symptom at the point of entry in Korea METHODS: Symptomatic travelers with water and food-borne communicable diseases who entered Korea were diagnosed by a health declaration and detection of causative agents in water and food using laboratory tests. Among those entered in 2017, the affecting factors in the incidence of communicable diseases among those who had diarrhea at the entry into Korea, were analyzed, with frequency and chi-square test. RESULTS: The number of travel entrants with gastrointestinal communicable diseases increased by 40.19% from 2013 to 2017. The percentage of causative agents of water and food-borne communicable diseases was the highest at 69.2% from July to September. The rate of detection of causative agents of communicable disease pathogens in travelers from Southeast Asia entering Korea was 70.2%, which was higher than people arriving from East Asia and Central Asia (57.5%; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The positive ratio of causative agents of water and food-borne communicable diseases was high among travelers that had entered Korea from July to September, with a high number among entrants from Southeast Asia. Based on the positive detection of causative agents, the entry period and countries visited were statistically significant affecting factors (p < 0.001).

Detection of Rotavirus from the Inner Surfaces of Domestic Refrigerators

BACKGROUND: Rotavirus is the leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis, particularly in children, and is transmitted through the fecal-to-oral route by contaminated food or the environment. This study examined the contamination of the inner surfaces of domestic refrigerators with pathogens causing gastroenteritis. METHODS: Swab specimens from shelf surfaces of freezers and refrigerators were collected from 10 domestic refrigerators. Multiplex PCR for bacterial and viral pathogens causing acute gastroenteritis was performed. The VP7 and VP4 genes of rotavirus were amplified and then analyzed by DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Rotavirus was detected in five domestic refrigerators in the same apartment complex. All rotavirus samples showed the G1 genotype and the same DNA sequences. No pathogens causing acute gastroenteritis were identified in the other five domestic refrigerators. CONCLUSIONS: The inner surfaces of domestic refrigerators can be contaminated with pathogens causing acute gastroenteritis, such as rotavirus. Attention should be given to the hygiene of refrigerators. To estimate the contamination or hygienic status for food storage, testing for viral pathogens combined with ordinary bacterial cultures may be necessary.

Mobilizing community-based health insurance to enhance awareness & prevention of airborne, vector-borne & waterborne diseases in rural India.

Background & objectives: Despite remarkable progress in airborne, vector-borne and waterborne diseases in India, the morbidity associated with these diseases is still high. Many of these diseases are controllable through awareness and preventive practice. This study was an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of a preventive care awareness campaign in enhancing knowledge related with airborne, vector-borne and waterborne diseases, carried out in 2011 in three rural communities in India (Pratapgarh and Kanpur-Dehat in Uttar Pradesh and Vaishali in Bihar). Methods: Data for this analysis were collected from two surveys, one done before the campaign and the other after it, each of 300 randomly selected households drawn from a larger sample of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) members invited to join community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes. Results: The results showed a significant increase both in awareness (34%, p<0.001) and in preventive practices (48%, P=0.001), suggesting that the awareness campaign was effective. However, average practice scores (0.31) were substantially lower than average awareness scores (0.47), even in post-campaign. Awareness and preventive practices were less prevalent in vector-borne diseases than in airborne and waterborne diseases. Education was positively associated with both awareness and practice scores. The awareness scores were positive and significant determinants of the practice scores, both in the pre- and in the post-campaign results. Affiliation to CBHI had significant positive influence on awareness and on practice scores in the post-campaign period. Interpretation & conclusions: The results suggest that well-crafted health educational campaigns can be effective in raising awareness and promoting health-enhancing practices in resource-poor settings. It also confirms that CBHI can serve as a platform to enhance awareness to risks of exposure to airborne, vector-borne and waterborne diseases, and encourage preventive practices.

Cryptosporidium infection in school children in Dhanusha district, Nepal

Background and Objectives: Gastro-intestinal water-borne infections are among the most emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases throughout the world. Most water-borne diseases are caused by organism ranging from microscopic viruses of less than 30 nm in diameter to parasites of 10cm in length culminate into diarrhea and cause approximately 5million reported deaths annually. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of intestinal parasites, Cryptosporidium parvum among school children. Material and Methods: The study was carried out between Februry to July 2012. Cases of diarrhea reported in 23 students were linked to water handling practices. A total 500 of child of age less than 15 years old was included in the study. A total five hundred soft, loose or watery stool specimens collected from student of less than fifteen years from different school in Janakpur. The sample was collected randomly from randomly selected five schools. The collected stool samples were screened for the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts. A modified Ziehl Neelsen with DMSO staining method was used for detecting Cryptosporidium oocysts in the stool samples. Results: The oocysts of Cryptosporidium were identified in 64 (6.8%) of the samples, while 242 samples (13%) showed mixed infections. Children aged between 3 and 10 years were mostly infected by this parasite, while infection was more prevalent in females than in males for all the age groups. Conclusion: The study suggests that Cryptosporidium is one of the important intestinal parasites of children as etiologic agents of diarrhea in immune-compromised population.

Epidemiological Characteristics of the First Water-Borne Outbreak of Cryptosporidiosis in Seoul, Korea

The first case of human cryptosporidiosis was reported in Korea in 1995; however, an outbreak of Cryptosporidium has not been reported in Korea until now. This paper describes the first outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Korea. On May 24, 2012, a local public health center filed a report on 126 residents with gastrointestinal symptoms in an old apartment complex in Seoul. Epidemiological investigations were implemented on 125 of the 126 patients. The patients were reported continuously over a period of 22 days. Diarrhea was the most common clinical symptom, and lasted for 5 days on average. The tap water was the only common exposure of the patients. During the environmental investigation it was discovered that the water and septic tanks were situated closely and that the waste water pipes were corroded where they passed over the water pipes. Cryptosporidium parvum was detected in 3 of the 7 stool specimens by PCR-RFLP. A number of Cryptosporidium oocysts were also detected in the water specimens from the water tank. In conclusion, Cryptosporidium parvum was the key causal pathogen of this outbreak. It is presumed that the tap water was contaminated by a sewage leak from the aged pipelines.