Water is one of our most precious goods and constitutes an essential contribution to people’s lives and health. However, water must be in good condition to be consumed, because in those cases in which the water is contaminated, it can lead to many different diseases that, in general, are serious, and that are given through several transmission routes (not only by drinking contaminated water).
Thus, taking care of our water heritage is a fundamental task for our health and our ecosystems. We invite you to continue reading this Ecology Verde article to know the diseases caused by contaminated waterwhat other associated problems there are and some of the ways to reduce this situation.
Water and health pollution
Although in many areas of the world we have a good network of sanitation and water channeling, this is not a reality for many people. According to the data that the UN in 2017, up to 4.5 billion people did not have access to sanitation services managed safely and, also according to UN data, up to 340,000 children under 5 years due to diarrheal diseases die.
Water is a vital element for our health: It dies before thirst than of starvation. The majority of our body is water and we lose it by developing our vital functions (when breathing, through urine and excretion, when we sweat, etc), so we must necessarily replenish it.
However, water is also the main habitat of a multitude of pathogens, especially the stagnant waters. Therefore, the study of water and the development and maintenance of infrastructure of Water processing It is, therefore, of vital importance to people’s health.
Diseases caused by water pollution
Among the Main diseases caused by contaminated water The following stand out:
Diarrhea
Diarrhea can be a symptom or a disease itself, which occurs when a pathogen is based on the intestine. To eliminate pathogens, the intestine wall gives off water; In short, it is a “washing” inside, which aims to drag the pathogenic organisms outside. Thus, feces have a high water content. With diarrhea a lot of water is lost, so there is dehydration risk. Especially if clean water is not available, when trying to hydrate we will be increasing the pathogenic load, so you can enter a really harmful circle for health. In the most serious cases, diarrhea can lead to dehydration, be accompanied by fever and cause bleeding.
Dysentery
Dyscentía is a serious illness characterized by an inflammation of the intestine, which produces a serious mucous and blood diarrhea. Other symptoms are abdominal pain and vomiting. It can be caused by genus enterobacteria Shigella or by an ameba, Entamoeba histolyticaand in this case it is also known as liver ambiasis, since it affects intestines and liver mainly. For more information about this disease, we recommend reading this article about hepatic amebiasis: symptoms, causes and treatment.
Dengue
Dengue is a disease caused by a virus and transmitted by a mosquito (Aedes aegypti). That is, dengue is not caused by contaminated water intake. However, mosquitoes usually live in places with waters and, especially, in stagnant waters, since part of their life cycle develops there. Therefore, being close to stagnant and contaminated waters raises the risk of being infected with dengue by the carrier mosquito. Dengue symptoms include diarrhea, high fever and bleeding.
Anger
Cholera is a disease caused by bacillus Vibrio Choleraewhich is found in contaminated food or water. It causes serious aqueous diarrhea and can be deadly in a few hours if proper treatment is not received. It is estimated that there are between 3 and 5 million cases of anger a year in the world.
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever is an infection caused by bacteria Salmonella Typhiwhich can become deadly and spread by contaminated water or foods. Main symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, abdominal pain and constipation or diarrhea. The greatest risk, as with other diseases, occurs in populations with high poverty indices, and especially in vulnerable populations, such as children.
Legionellosis
The most common form of transmission of the bacteria that causes legionellosis (Legionella pneumonia) It is the inhalation of contaminated aerosols, produced with nebulizers or water sprayers. After infection, aggressive pneumonia (pulmonary infection) is given that in severe cases can cause death.
Other diseases caused by water pollution
- Malaria
- Typhus
- Tracoma
- Malaria
- Ascariosis
- Arsenicosis
- Schistosomiasis
- Anylostomiasis
- Botulism
- Giardiasis
- Hepatitis
- Campilobacteriosis
- Cryptosporiodiosis
- Cyanobacterial toxins
- Fluorosis
- Leptospirosis
- Polio
- Lymphatic philariasis
- Malnutrition
- Oncocercosis
- Scabiosis
How to prevent diseases caused by contaminated water
The best form of Avoid diseases caused by contaminated water is to have a Water sanitation network appropriate. It is necessary both to have water treatment stations that guarantee the water supply, and of purifying stations that are able to filter and clean the wastewater, as well as appropriate channeling networks. The development of these infrastructure must be accompanied by a reeducation of the population in water. In this other ecology article, you can learn the different types of wastewater treatment.
In addition, a Good health system It can also help prevent many water -related diseases, which occur more frequently or aggravate when some other physical condition is already suffered, such as malnutrition.
Finally and for specific cases, there are various portable water treatment mechanisms, such as water treatment pills, which can be used promptly in isolated regions (for example in mountainous and little populated areas).
If you want to read more articles similar to Diseases caused by contaminated waterwe recommend that you enter our pollution category.
