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Article: Waterborne Diseases
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WATERBORNE DISEASES
An adult human needs to drink at least 1.5 liters of water a day to replace fluid lost in urine, sweat, and respired air and to perform essential biochemical functions. Moreover, almost 90 percent of body mass is water. Water, however, can also carry dangerous pathogens and toxic chemicals into the body. The catalogue of waterborne pathogens is long, and it includes many that are well-known as well as far larger numbers of more obscure organisms. Waterborne pathogens include viruses (e.g., hepatitis A, poliomyelitis); bacteria (e.g., cholera, typhoid, coliform organisms); protozoa (e.g.,
cryptosporidiosum, amebae, giardia
); worms (e.g.,
schistosomia
, guinea worm); ...