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What is WDI ?
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Water source ....... or source of infection? |
- Diarrheal illness is the #2 killer in the world.
- Almost 3 million people worldwide die annually from
water-borne diarrheal illnesses.
- 1.9 million of the 3 million annual deaths are children.
- It kills 5,000 children every day.
- It causes 1/3 of the childhood deaths in Bangladesh every
year.
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This is due, primarily, to the lack
of a source of clean water and adequate sanitation. The
World Health Organization reported that 80% of the
sickness and disease in the world is related to
inadequate water sanitation. And once the diseases are
contracted, it is because there is an inadequate
distribution system for the simple rehydration solution
required to treat it.
It is— perhaps above all — because our sense of global
health priorities is uncomfortably skewed. While
diarrhea is a major killer in developing countries, in
the rich world it is usually no more than an irritant.
So developed nations channel healthcare funds into areas
perceived as presenting greater risks. Antiviral drugs
are purchased and vaccines are ordered to guard against
the potential threat from avian influenza instead of
getting packages of rehydration solution costing just 6?
a liter to those at risk of dying from diarrhea. But far
more children die from diarrheal illnesses every day
than have ever died from avian flu.
WATER-BORNE DIARRHEAL ILLNESSES are diseases
that cause diarrhea, usually resulting from infection
from viruses (Flavivirus-Yellow fever; Calicivirus-Norwalk;
Picornavirus-polio), bacteria (i.e. Escherichia Coli,
Hepatitis A & E) and parasites (i.e. Giardia Lamblia,
Amebiasis) through ingestion of contaminated water. Most
cases of diarrhea can be traced to food or water tainted
by 100 or so intestinal bugs, most commonly rotavirus,
E. coli, Shigella, Campylobacter and Salmonella. Thumb
sucking doesn't help; it can lead to what doctors call
fecal-oral contamination. "Toddlers will always pick up
things and put them into their mouths and, if you don't
have a clean environment, that can lead to diarrhea,"
says Therese Dooley, until recently a UNICEF project
officer in Ethiopia.
Drinking clean water or water that has been disinfected
dramatically reduces gastro-intestinal diarrheal
symptoms. The elderly, infants, those who suffer AIDS
and those who recently received organ transplants whose
immune defenses are low are at highest risk for
water-borne diarrheal illnesses. Besides water,
diarrheal illnesses can also result from contaminated
food, but in this website we will focus on the
water-borne diarrheal illnesses because of the vast
scope of this global problem.
Diarrhea: Adults - > 200 g/day of stool; children
- > 20 g/kg/day of stool; frequent liquid stools. The
World Health Organization reported that 80% of the
sickness and disease in the world is related to
inadequate water sanitation. Drinking clean water or
water that has been disinfected dramatically reduces
gastro-intestinal diarrheal symptoms. The elderly,
infants, those who suffer AIDS and those who recently
received organ transplants whose immune defenses are low
are at highest risk for
water-borne diarrheal illnesses. |
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