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At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Quantitative bacterial examination of domestic water supplies in the Lesotho Highlands: water quality, sanitation, and village health.

Reported are the results of an examination of domestic water supplies for microbial contamination in the Lesotho Highlands, the site of a 20-year-old hydroelectric project, as part of a regional epidemiological survey of baseline health, nutritional and environmental parameters. The population's hygiene and health behaviour were also studied. A total of 72 village water sources were classified as unimproved (n = 23), semi-improved (n = 37), or improved (n = 12). Based on the estimation of total coliforms, which is a nonspecific bacterial indicator of water quality, all unimproved and semi-improved water sources would be considered as not potable. Escherichia coli, a more precise indicator of faecal pollution, was absent (P < 0.001) in most of the improved water sources. Among 588 queried households, only 38% had access to an "improved" water supply. Sanitation was a serious problem, e.g. fewer than 5% of villagers used latrines and 18% of under-5-year-olds had suffered a recent diarrhoeal illness. The study demonstrates that protection of water sources can improve the hygienic quality of rural water supplies, where disinfection is not feasible. Our findings support the WHO recommendation that E. coli should be the principal microbial indicator for portability of untreated water. Strategies for developing safe water and sanitation systems must include public health education in hygiene and water source protection, practical methods and standards for water quality monitoring, and a resource centre for project information to facilitate programme evaluation and planning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Health risks of rural water supply due to lack of proper sanitation in southeast Asian countries.

A comparative study on the effects of lack of sanitation and inappropriate waste handling on water supply was carried out in several Southeast Asian countries that have problems such as inadequate water resources, water supply and sanitation. Though the degree and the cause varied in each country, all the countries investigated had problems arising from contamination of water resources. It was found that there are several sources of water contamination, such as human and animal excreta, solid wastes from nearby houses, graveyards, contaminated river flows, and large-scale landfills for big cities. It was revealed that even when water is clean at the point of production, it could be easily contaminated through broken pipelines or improperly maintained containers. It is still rare to put chlorine into piped water supply and both the inhabitants' and water engineers' understanding of the importance of disinfection should be reemphasised. Although it is urgent to provide piped water supply to those who have only contaminated water sources, such as surface water and dug wells, it is also important to protect these limited water sources from the above-mentioned contamination.

Asia, Southeastern↗
PubMed1976

Rough determination of the cost-benefit balance point of sanitation programmes.

Resources for sanitation programmes in developing countries are limited and therefore must be used judiciously to obtain the best possible effect. Cost-benefit analysis is a tool that permits the better utilization of available resources. A simple method for rough determination of the cost-benefit balance point has been devised which requires little computation. To reduce the computations to a minimum, nomograms have been constructed which require little or no mathematical skill for their use. While the method falls short of perfection, its simplicity makes it useful for a rough evaluation of the benefits from sanitation programmes aimed at disease control in countries whose resources are not available for more sophisticated analysis.

Communicable Disease Control↗
PubMed2000

Alcohol-free instant hand sanitizer reduces elementary school illness absenteeism.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES: A substantial percentage of school absenteeism among children is related to transmissible infection. Rates of transmission can be reduced by hand washing with soap and water, but such washing occurs infrequently. This study tested whether an alcohol-free instant hand sanitizer (CleanHands) could reduce illness absenteeism in school-age children. METHODS: A 10-week, open-label, crossover study was performed on 420 elementary school-age children (ages 5-12). Students were given a brief orientation immediately prior to the start of the study on the relationship of germs, illness, and hand washing. Each student in the treatment group then received the test product in individual bottles, with instructions to apply one to two sprays to the hands after coming into the classroom, before eating, and after using the restroom, in addition to their normal hand washing with soap and water. The control group was instructed to continue hand washing as normal with non-medicated soap. After 4 weeks of treatment and a 2-week wash-out period, the control and experimental groups were reversed. Data gathered on absenteeism were classified as gastrointestinal or respiratory related and normalized for nonillness-related absenteeism and school holidays. RESULTS: Compared to the hand washing-only control group, students using CleanHands were found to have 41.9% fewer illness-related absence days, representing a 28.9% and a 49.7% drop in gastrointestinal- and respiratory-related illnesses, respectively. Likewise, absence incidence decreased by 31.7%, consisting of a 44.2% and 50.2% decrease in incidence of gastrointestinal- and respiratory-related illnesses, respectively. No adverse events were reported during the study. CONCLUSIONS: Daily use of the instant hand sanitizer was associated with significantly lower rates of illness-related absenteeism.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed2001

Managing water supply and sanitation services to developing communities: key success factors.

A number of key success factors in the management of organisations responsible for the provision of water supply and sanitation services to developing communities have been identified as critical to the sustained success of such organisations. These factors have to receive specific and sustained attention from management. They should form the focus of management attention in addition to the many other important factors requiring management input. The key success factors which are critical to ensure a sustained water supply and the provision of sanitation services to developing communities centre around two main areas, i.e. the credibility of the organisation with the community it serves and the creation of an organisation culture of focusing on service to the community, on income generation and on minimising of losses.

Developing Countries↗
PubMed2000

[Introduction to management of environmental sanitation in public concession in Shanghai in 1930s].

The environmental sanitation in Shanghai public concession is one of the regions with better administration. A complete set of administration rules was proposed by the Hygienic Department and Logistic Department of its public Security Bureau. It also spent a wealth of money to organize personnel and material supply to treat its environmental sanitation. This experience is worthy of summarization.

China↗
PubMed1992

Household sanitation in Uasin Gishu district in Kenya.

In rural Uasin Gishu District in 1990, 78.2% of the households had pit latrines, 11.3% ventilated improved pit latrines, 0.8% water-borne and 9.7% with no toilet facilities. On inspection, 97% of the toilet facilities were in use. Compost pits were present in 52.3% of the households. Utensil drying racks were found in 56.0% of the households. Compared to previous estimates, these levels represent a tremendous improvement in sanitation service coverage. It is recommended that the impact of water and sanitation programmes on health status needs to be evaluated. There is a need for studies to be done on the value of utensil drying racks in disease control.

Garbage↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Environmental sanitation and typhoid-paratyphoid infection morbidity in Valencia].

BACKGROUND: We intend to study the evolution of morbidity by typhoid-paratyphoid infections (TPI) in Spain and Valencia (1940-1990) as well as TPI morbidity and degree of sanitation in Valencia. METHODS: Data related to morbidity, as well as the sanitation basic data in Valencia, have been obtained from official sources. Morbidity rates belonging to Spain and Valencia have been calculated. RESULTS: It is found a decreasing trend of morbidity in Spain and Valencia. By Health Areas, a great decrease stands out in Valencia-City and, as a general rule, the highest rates belonged to the lowest automatic chlorination percentages. In general, there is an improvement in chlorination, sewers and sewage-depuration equipment. CONCLUSIONS: TPI morbidity in Spain shows a decreasing trend in both cases; it is more evident in Valencia when establishing a relation of TPI morbidity with the degree of hygiene by Health Areas of Valencia, an inverse relation appears and the highest rates belong to the interior Areas. The conclusion is that there is a remarkable improvement in the hygiene general situation in Valencia; in the city as well as in all the Health Areas.

Chlorine↗
PubMed2004

Screening of chemical oxidation processes and other methods for decolorization of urine for its re-use as toilet-flush liquid in ecological sanitation systems.

Because of its potential use as fertilizer, urine ("yellow water") is a resource originating from sanitation. Its separate collection in no-mix toilets is a beneficial aspect of ecological (source control) sanitation. In order to avoid dilution of the fertilizing nutrients with toilet flush water, the utilization of yellow water as toilet flush liquid seems to be advantageous. To be accepted for this purpose, urine has to be decolorized (and also deodorized). In this study activated carbon adsorption, irradiation with UV light of different wavelengths, the advanced oxidation processes ultrasound, UV/H2O2, and photocatalytic oxidation have failed to decolorize urine. Biological treatment caused brown colour of the treated urine. Only ozonation was successful in colour removal, although it did not affect TOC. In spite of darkening of yellow water during biological treatment (generation of humic substances), smaller ozone doses were required for decolorizing the biologically pre-treated urine than for original urine. Photocatalytic oxidation of biologically treated urine also removed brown colour, but the original yellow colour remained. In ozonated urine, yellow colour was reconstituted unless hydrogen peroxide was added. In addition to colour removal, ozone contributed to deodorization as a consequence of ammonia stripping and probably of phenol oxidation.

Catalysis↗
PubMed2004

Diarrhoeal diseases in Nepal vis-à-vis water supply and sanitation status.

Diarrhoeal diseases are still a major challenge in Nepal because of inadequate safe water supply, poor sanitation and living conditions. However, several other factors such as the literacy rate, socio-economic status, and social, religious or personal perception of the cause of disease may influence the rate of morbidity and mortality of diarrhoeal diseases. A yearly minimum death of 30,000 and morbidity of 3.3 episodes per child was estimated due to diarrhoea. An environmental health education programme, along with water supply and sanitation intervention, is an effective mitigation measure to reduce diarrhoeal diseases in Nepal.

Diarrhea↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Rapid evaluation of surface sanitation by electrical measurement.

Electrical measurements are easier and faster than traditional methods for evaluating surface sanitation in the food industry. However, the behavior of sublethally damaged bacteria is different in each method. The electrical method is more sensitive to the presence of disinfectant traces in the samples. These issues lead to low correlations between both methods (r2 < 0.7). The use of smaller sample volumes in electrical measurements, together with the addition of a blend of neutralizers to the sample and the subsequent removal by filtration, provide r2 values > 0.9. The developed protocol shows an excellent correlation with traditional methods and facilitates the adaptation of the electrical method to routine monitoring of surface sanitation. It allows for a reduction in holding times and thereby provides the necessary time to make decisions.

Bacteriological Techniques↗
PubMed2005

Water, sanitation and hygiene in developing countries: interventions and diarrhoea--a review.

We conducted a search to identify all English language papers (published between 1 January 1985 and 26 June 2003) with evidence on the effectiveness of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions in developing countries, in which diarrhoea morbidity in non-outbreak conditions was reported. A total of 39 studies were identified as relevant after an initial review of over 2000 titles. Data were extracted and, where possible, combined using meta-analysis to provide a summary estimate of the effectiveness of specific interventions, including water supply and water treatment. Most of the interventions (including multiple interventions, hygiene and water quality) were found to significantly reduce the levels of diarrhoeal illness, with the greatest impact being seen for hygiene and household treatment interventions (after removal of studies classed as poor quality). Sanitation interventions could not be assessed as only a single study suitable for meta-analysis was identified.

Developing Countries↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Rapid assessment procedures in environmental sanitation research: a case study from the northern border of Mexico.

BACKGROUND: There is a need to enhance the quality and sustainability of environmental health programs in Mexico. What socio-cultural factors influenced the adoption or rejection of Clean Water in Homes programs in this population? We applied rapid appraisal procedures (RAP) to evaluate these community-based programs. METHOD: Qualitative study conducted in communities along Mexico's northern border. We conducted informal dialogues, semi-structured interviews, field notes and observations. Home visits used a checklist to observe: sources of water, handwashing, as well as human waste and garbage disposal patterns. Data analysis was conducted using ATLAS.ti, which facilitated comparison and illustration of discrepancies, the elaboration of emerging issues and relationships between them. RESULTS: Community members perceived that the Clean Water program was a top-down intervention. Water is perceived as a political issue and a matter of corruption. Inequity also limits solidarity activities involved in environmental sanitation. Migration to the United States of America (US) contributes to community fragmentation, which in turn dilutes communal efforts to improve water and sanitation infrastructure. While targeting women as program "recipients", the Clean Water program did not take gendered spheres of decision-making into account. Community members and authorities discussed the main results in "assemblies", particularly addressing the needs of excluded groups. CONCLUSION: The oversight of not exploring community members' needs and priorities prior to program implementation resulted in interventions that did not address the structural (economic, infrastructure) and socio-cultural barriers faced by community members to undertake the health-promoting behaviour change, and provoked resentment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

A study of the association between improved sanitation facilities and children's height in Lesotho.

The impact of improved sanitation on the anthropometric status of children under 5 years in Lesotho was investigated using children recruited into a case-control study of diarrhoea morbidity. The children's height-for-age Z-scores were used as an indicator of chronic undernutrition. Classifying children as 'stunted' or 'adequately nourished' revealed some evidence of an association between latrine ownership and attained height. After allowing for confounding variables, the odds of stunting were 18 per cent lower among children in households with latrines (95 per cent confidence interval, 36 per cent lower to 3 per cent higher). More powerful analyses, using height-for-age as a continuous outcome variable, revealed that the mean height-for-age Z-score of children from households with a latrine was 0.27 standard deviations higher than that of children from households without a latrine (95 per cent c.i. = 0.12 to 0.42). These results suggest that the anthropometric status of children may be as responsive to improvements in sanitation facilities as diarrhoea morbidity in some settings.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1990

A case-control study of the impact of improved sanitation on diarrhoea morbidity in Lesotho.

A health impact evaluation of the Rural Sanitation Pilot Project in Mohale's Hoek district, Lesotho, was conducted from October 1987 to September 1988. A clinic-based case-control design was used to investigate the impact of improved sanitation on diarrhoea morbidity in young children. The results indicate that under-5-year-olds from households with a latrine may experience 24% fewer episodes of diarrhoea than such children from households without a latrine (odds ratio = 0.76; 95% confidence interval, 0.58-1.01). The impact of latrines on diarrhoea was greater in those households that used more water, practised better personal hygiene, and where the mothers had a higher level of education or worked outside the home. In common with studies conducted in Malawi, Philippines, and Sri Lanka, little evidence was found that the relationship between latrine ownership and diarrhoea was confounded by socioeconomic status or environmental variables. For a sample of cases and controls, data on exposure status (presence or absence of a latrine) that were collected by interview at the clinics agreed closely with those obtained by observation during a home visit.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1990

Sanitation in rural communities in Bangladesh.

Household sanitation in developing countries, especially in the rural areas, is poor. An evaluation of what was achieved in this regard during the 1980-90 decade of safe water supply for all was carried out in the present study. It was observed that even where a safe water supply and sanitary latrines were provided, people did not always use them. While 23% of the studied households had sanitary latrines, children in about 11.5% of these households did not use them and women in about 6% of households did not use them for micturition at night. Not a single house in the study area could fulfil all the criteria of sanitary housing in a strict sense; for example, although 34.5% of the households had tubewells, only 11.5% of them had a satisfactory level of water usage. Since socioeconomic conditions and education influence the level of sanitation, improvements in both are required.

Bangladesh↗
PubMed1985

[Hygienic problems of sanitation procedures in civil aviation].

Hygiene problems that arise in connection to sanitation procedures in civil aviation are described; the relevant international regulation and recommendation are explained. The particular problems that arise in connection to prophylaxis to infections, food hygiene, sanitation, refuse disposal and the maintenance lavoratory facilities are emphasized. Relevant rules and recommendations are quoted.

Aviation↗
PubMed1979

Development of an 82.2 degrees C (180 degrees F) temperature indicatior system for monitoring equipment washing and sanitizing programs.

A survey performed at 12 institutions showed that while the temperatures in the water tanks of mechanical cage washers were monitored, these temperatures deviated from the temperatures obtained on the items actually being washed. Most surveyed facilities were not meeting the 82.2 degrees C (180 degrees F) standard in the washing chamber. A temperature indicator was developed which revealed whether 82.2 degrees C had been reached at the surface of the items being sanitized. The indicator was a sealed glass ampule which produced a visible color change when exposed to temperatures of 82.2 degress C or higher. The indicator was located on the items being washed. Due to the variability of water heating in washing machines, it was recommended that one indicator be used in each load of equipment being sanitized.

Animals↗