IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i8p2774-d347002.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of Drinking Water Quality to Predict the Risk of Waterborne Diseases in Primary-School Children

Author

Listed:
  • Jamil Ahmed

    (Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
    US- Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamhsoro 76062, Pakistan)

  • Li Ping Wong

    (Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Yan Piaw Chua

    (Institute of Educational Leadership, Level 11, Wisma R & D, UM, University of Malaya, Jalan Pantai Baru, Kuala Lumpur 59000, Malaysia)

  • Najeebullah Channa

    (US- Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamhsoro 76062, Pakistan)

  • Rasool Bux Mahar

    (US- Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamhsoro 76062, Pakistan)

  • Aneela Yasmin

    (Department of Biotechnology, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam 70060, Sindh, Pakistan)

  • James A. VanDerslice

    (Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA)

  • Joshua V. Garn

    (School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA)

Abstract

Primary-school children in low- and middle-income countries are often deprived of microbiologically safe water and sanitation, often resulting in a high prevalence of gastrointestinal diseases and poor school performance. We used Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) to predict the probability of infection in schoolchildren due to consumption of unsafe school water. A multistage random-sampling technique was used to randomly select 425 primary schools from ten districts of Sindh, Pakistan, to produce a representative sample of the province. We characterized water supplies in selected schools. Microbiological testing of water resulted in inputs for the QMRA model, to estimate the risks of infections to schoolchildren. Groundwater (62%) and surface water (38%) were identified as two major sources of drinking water in the selected schools, presenting varying degrees of health risks. Around half of the drinking-water samples were contaminated with Escherichia coli (49%), Shigella spp. (63%), Salmonella spp. (53%), and Vibrio cholerae (49%). Southern Sindh was found to have the highest risk of infection and illness from Campylobacter and Rotavirus . Central and Northern Sindh had a comparatively lower risk of waterborne diseases. Schoolchildren of Karachi were estimated to have the highest probability of illness per year, due to Campylobacter (70%) and Rotavirus (22.6%). Pearson correlation was run to assess the relationship between selected pathogens. V. cholerae was correlated with Salmonella spp., Campylobacter , Rotavirus , and Salmonella spp. Overall, the risk of illness due to the bacterial infection ( E. coli, Salmonella spp., V. cholerae , Shigella , and Campylobacter ) was high. There is a dire need for management plans in the schools of Sindh, to halt the progression of waterborne diseases in school-going children.

Suggested Citation

  • Jamil Ahmed & Li Ping Wong & Yan Piaw Chua & Najeebullah Channa & Rasool Bux Mahar & Aneela Yasmin & James A. VanDerslice & Joshua V. Garn, 2020. "Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of Drinking Water Quality to Predict the Risk of Waterborne Diseases in Primary-School Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-16, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2774-:d:347002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2774/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/8/2774/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Annalaura Carducci & Gabriele Donzelli & Lorenzo Cioni & Ileana Federigi & Roberto Lombardi & Marco Verani, 2018. "Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment for Workers Exposed to Bioaerosol in Wastewater Treatment Plants Aimed at the Choice and Setup of Safety Measures," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-12, July.
    2. Michael Sauer & Stuart Smith & Bruce Clemens, 2016. "Does it Pay to Invest in Potable Water in the Developing World? Relationships Between External Financing and Economic Development in Sustainable Community‐Run Integrated Projects," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 233-242, March.
    3. Annalaura Carducci & Gabriele Donzelli & Lorenzo Cioni & Marco Verani, 2016. "Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment in Occupational Settings Applied to the Airborne Human Adenovirus Infection," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-10, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohora Feida Malebatja & Mpata Mathildah Mokgatle, 2022. "Diarrhoea among Children Aged 5 Years and Microbial Drinking Water Quality Compliance: Trends Analysis Study in South Africa (2008–2018)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Toqeer Ahmed & Mohammad Zounemat-Kermani & Miklas Scholz, 2020. "Climate Change, Water Quality and Water-Related Challenges: A Review with Focus on Pakistan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-22, November.
    3. John Ogony Odiyo & Mashudu Maxwell Mathoni & Rachel Makungo, 2020. "Health Risks and Potential Sources of Contamination of Groundwater Used by Public Schools in Vhuronga 1, Limpopo Province, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-15, September.
    4. Aisha Aziz & Kashif Akram & Muhammad Abrar ul Haq & Iqbal Thonse Hawaldar & Mustafa Raza Rabbani, 2022. "Examining the Role of Clean Drinking Water Plants in Mitigating Drinking Water-Induced Morbidity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mayerlin Sandoval Herazo & Graciela Nani & Florentina Zurita & Carlos Nakase & Sergio Zamora & Luis Carlos Sandoval Herazo & Erick Arturo Betanzo-Torres, 2022. "A Review of the Presence of SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater: Transmission Risks in Mexico," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Andrew Watterson, 2016. "Occupational Safety and Related Impacts on Health and the Environment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-4, October.
    3. Hamza Mbareche & Marc Veillette & Jonathan Pilote & Valérie Létourneau & Caroline Duchaine, 2019. "Bioaerosols Play a Major Role in the Nasopharyngeal Microbiota Content in Agricultural Environment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-22, April.
    4. Rasha Maal-Bared, 2022. "Protecting Wastewater Workers by Categorizing Risks of Pathogen Exposures by Splash and Fecal-Oral Transmission during Routine Tasks," Waste, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-10, November.
    5. Annalaura Carducci & Gabriele Donzelli & Lorenzo Cioni & Ileana Federigi & Roberto Lombardi & Marco Verani, 2018. "Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment for Workers Exposed to Bioaerosol in Wastewater Treatment Plants Aimed at the Choice and Setup of Safety Measures," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-12, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:8:p:2774-:d:347002. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.