Measuring sporadic gastrointestinal illness associated with drinking water – an overview of methodologies

Abstract

There is an increasing awareness that drinking water contributes to sporadic gastrointestinal illness (GI) in high income countries of the northern hemisphere. A literature search was conducted in order to review: (1) methods used for investigating the effects of public drinking water on GI; (2) evidence of possible dose-response relationship between sporadic GI and drinking water consumption; and (3) association between sporadic GI and factors affecting drinking water quality. Seventy-four articles were selected, key findings and information gaps were identified. In-home intervention studies have only been conducted in areas using surface water sources and intervention studies in communities supplied by ground water are therefore needed. Community-wide intervention studies may constitute a cost-effective alternative to in-home intervention studies. Proxy data that correlate with GI in the community can be used for detecting changes in the incidence of GI. Proxy data can, however, not be used for measuring the prevalence of illness. Local conditions affecting water safety may vary greatly, making direct comparisons between studies difficult unless sufficient knowledge about these conditions is acquired. Drinking water in high-income countries contributes to endemic levels of GI and there are public health benefits for further improvements of drinking water safety.

Effect of the deuterium on efficiency and type of adipogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells in vitro

“…Water is also a universal solvent in which the basic biochemical processes of living organisms occur. An important component of a healthy diet is consumption of drinking water instead of sugar-containing and carbonated beverages 18,19 . So, the modulation of biological and physicochemical properties of water is also a promising opportunity to improve the effectiveness of treatment for obesity, metabolic syndrome and T2DM.…”

Overview of microbial risks in water distribution networks and their health consequences: quantification, modelling, trends, and future implications

“…Sinclair and Fairley (2000) recommended precaution when interpreting results from epidemiological studies due to their methodological limitations. Bylund et al (2017) found that many epidemiological studies lack statistical robustness and local variations between the systems studied hinder generalizing the results. Nonetheless, recent evidence suggests that malfunctioning distribution networks, as well as specific system deficiencies (i.e., pipe breaks, water outages and inadequate residual disinfectant), increase the risk of endemic GI (Ercumen et al 2014).…”

Preface: McMaster Research Highlights

“…2 Over the years, many devices have been developed by engineers to improve the quality of drinking water. [3][4][5] The biomedical instrumentation in this field is reviewed by Hsu et al 6…”