An analysis of 12 years of data collected from over 500 hospitals in 25 different U.S. states shows that weather, geographic location, and urban or rural location all appear to influence hospitalizations for waterborne infectious diseases, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University in the open-access journal PLOS Water .
Waterborne infectious diseases caused by bacteria, parasites, and viruses still affect over 7,000,000 people annually in the United States despite drinking and recreational water regulations, and sanitation infrastructure. Waterborne pathogens transmitted via contaminated environmental or drinking water can cause severe respiratory or gastrointestinal infections, particularly among vulnerable groups. Drinking water and wastewater treatment substantially reduces the burden of disease but these systems are still vulnerable to contamination.
Pathogen-specific water quality monitoring is onerous and expensive, and as a result infrequently conducted. Understanding the factors that give rise to these infections could eventually lead to a cost-effective early warning system so public health authorities can direct resources to protect people from contaminated drinking water." Victoria Lynch, study author, postdoctoral research scientist in environmental health sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Lynch and Jeffrey Shaman, professor of environmental health sciences and interim dean of the Columbia Climate School, looked at .