Water Borne Diseases and Their Effects

There are four basic kinds of water borne diseases; they are protozoan infections, viral infections, parasitic infections, and bacterial infections. Protozoan infections are caused by parasitic organisms in the protozoa family. These include amoebiasis, cryptosporidiosis, and microsporidiosis and they are usually caused by not drinking treated water. Animal manure, seasonal runoff, disinfectants, sewage and flies all can cause these infections. Side effects include fatigue, diarrhea, fever, bloating, cramps, and vomiting.

Parasitic infections are caused by drinking water with eggs or fecal parasites in it. These diseases include schistosomiasis, dracunculiasis, taeniasis, enterbiasis, and coenurisis and can involve worms or other parasites living inside you. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, fever, abdominal pain, cysts, liver enlargement, and possible rashes.


"Schistosomiasis haematobium is affects over 50 countries in Africa and the Middle East. It is also occasionally seen in Western Asia. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers it a significant public health problem in much of Africa.

WHO estimates that worldwide, 180 million people live in endemic areas and 90 million are infected with the parasites.

In many places, there is a higher incidence of infection in young boys and women. This occurs because of increased contact with water compared to other population groups in cultures where women typically fetch water for household use and young boys often play in or near water. In some regions where men are primarily freshwater fishermen or farmers using irrigation, they have higher rates of schistosomiasis. These differential rates of transmission depend on cultural practices. It is important to consider them when planning treatment, prevention, and control strategies." -


Bacterial infections are cause by drinking water infected with bacteria or water containing feces.
These include many well know diseases such as typhoid fever, salmonella, E. coli, and cholera. It also includes lesser known illnesses such as botulism, dysentery, and vibrio. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, blood in stool, cramps, sweating and possible rashes. Some cause death but mostly in immune compromised people.


Viral infections include gastroenteritis, SARS, hepatitis A, Polio, and polyomavirus which all can manifest in improperly treated water. Symptoms include cold and flu like symptom, vomiting, diarrhea, myalgia, lethargy, fatigue and possible paralysis seizures or death in the case of polio.

A man with polio.

SARS

Works Cited
" Water Borne diseases - Lenntech." Water Treatment and Purification - Lenntech. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 June 2010. .
"Stanford University." Stanford University. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 June 2010. .
"The Effects of Water Pollution on Health: The Health Risks of Water Pollution and Protecting Against Them." Pollution Control. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 June 2010. .