A large community outbreak of gastroenteritis associated with consumption of drinking water contaminated by river water, Belgium, 2010
SUMMARY On 6 December 2010 a fire in Hemiksem, Belgium, was extinguished by the fire brigade with both river water and tap water. Local physicians were asked to report all cases of gastroenteritis. We conducted a retrospective cohort study among 1000 randomly selected households. We performed a statistical and geospatial analysis. Human stool samples, tap water and river water were tested for pathogens. Of the 1185 persons living in the 528 responding households, 222 (18·7%) reported symptoms of gastroenteritis during the time period 6–13 December. Drinking tap water was significantly associat... Mehr ...
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Dokumenttyp: | Artikel |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2014 |
Reihe/Periodikum: | Epidemiology and Infection ; volume 143, issue 4, page 711-719 ; ISSN 0950-2688 1469-4409 |
Verlag/Hrsg.: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26998528 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0950268814001629 |
SUMMARY On 6 December 2010 a fire in Hemiksem, Belgium, was extinguished by the fire brigade with both river water and tap water. Local physicians were asked to report all cases of gastroenteritis. We conducted a retrospective cohort study among 1000 randomly selected households. We performed a statistical and geospatial analysis. Human stool samples, tap water and river water were tested for pathogens. Of the 1185 persons living in the 528 responding households, 222 (18·7%) reported symptoms of gastroenteritis during the time period 6–13 December. Drinking tap water was significantly associated with an increased risk for gastroenteritis (relative risk 3·67, 95% confidence interval 2·86–4·70) as was place of residence. Campylobacter sp. (2/56), norovirus GI and GII (11/56), rotavirus (1/56) and Giardia lamblia (3/56) were detected in stool samples. Tap water samples tested positive for faecal indicator bacteria and protozoa. The results support the hypothesis that a point-source contamination of the tap water with river water was the cause of the multi-pathogen waterborne outbreak.