A sickness that mainly occurs due to drinking contaminated water is called waterborne diseases. It is one of the global issues that kills millions of people worldwide, and in India, this ratio is in lakhs. Although various other factors also contribute to waterborne disease, according to WHO, more than 80% of the waterborne disease occurs due to drinking contaminated, so we should focus on drinking pure and healthy water. Here is this article we are going to discuss the causes and prevention of waterborne diseases.
Cause Of Waterborne Disease?
There are the various factor which causes waterborne disease here are some of the crucial waterborne disease-causing
● Bacteria
Water supports life, and due to this reason, water home various kinds of bacteria like E. coli and assorted others. E.coli is one of the potential disease-causing bacteria which secretes toxins that infect the human intestine. As a result, people experience anemia.
● Virus
It is one of the connective links between living and non-living because it remains inactive until it gets its host cell. Once the Virus gets their host cell, it becomes active and starts replicating themselves and attacks the host cell. As a result, the host becomes weak. The most common type of waterborne disease caused by Virus are Hepatitis A & E.
● Protozoa
This is one of the most typical microbes found in water. A Protozoa is comparatively more extensive than the Virus and bacteria. It causes various kinds of waterborne diseases, but one common type of waterborne disease caused by Protozoa is Amebiasis.
Types Of Waterborne Disease
Here are some of the common waterborne types
1. Leptospirosis
This disease is mainly caused by gram-negative bacteria called Leptospira interrogans. This bacteria affects mostly animals such as dogs, rodents, and others. When contaminated animals excrete in water bodies, the water gets infected, and water contaminated with Leptospira interrogans leads to Leptospirosis. People are suffering from this disease experience high fever, headache, abdominal pain, and other symptoms.
2. Amebiasis
This waterborne disease is mainly caused by a parasite, namely Entamoeba histolytic, which is a Protozoa. Drinking water contaminated with this infects the intestine and causes loose motion, abdominal cramps, stomach pain, and various other health issues.
3. Typhoid
Typhoid is mainly caused by bacteria known as Salmonella typhi. This is one of the most dangerous waterborne diseases. According to the WHO reports, more than 2 million cases are reported annually, in which around 2 lakhs people lose their lives.
4. Cholera
This is one of the commonly known waterborne diseases, mainly caused by Vibrio cholera, which is widely present in contaminated water and food. Once this bacteria enters the human body, releasing toxic material leads to heavy body fluids from the body.
5. Diarrhea
It is a health condition in which a person experiences watery stool more than three times a day. Diarrhea is three times as acute, chronic, and persistent. In acute diarrhea, people experience loose motion less than two weeks, whereas, in persistent diarrhea, you experience watery stool for more than 4 weeks.
Diarrhea mainly occurs due to water drinking, which contains high concentrations of microbes like bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc. These microbes primarily affect the intestine and cause infection in the intestine, leading to stomach pain, abdominal cramps, vomiting, and change in stool. According to the official report, more than 300 children lose their life due to diarrhea.
Number Of Death Occurred By Waterborne Diseases
| Diseases | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |||||
| Case | Deaths | Case | Deaths | Case | Deaths | Case | Deaths | Case | Deaths | |
| Acute Diarrhoeal Diseases | 11413610 | 1629 | 11748631 | 1137 | 12913606 | 1353 | 14166574 | 1555 | 9230572 | 840 |
| Cholera | 1130 | 5 | 844 | 5 | 913 | 4 | 718 | 3 | 385 | 3 |
| Typhoid | 1650145 | 387 | 1736687 | 425 | 1937413 | 452 | 2215805 | 511 | 1493050 | 286 |
| Viral Hepatitis | 110125 | 574 | 138554 | 400 | 140861 | 435 | 145970 | 451 | 98086 | 283 |
Waterborne Disease Prevention
The waterborne disease can be prevented with improved access to safe drinking water. The number of households provided with safe drinking is India has increased from 62% in 1991 to 86% in 2011. According to WHO reports, waterborne disease cases are higher in rural areas than in urban areas as rural areas access to safe drinking water is less.
In India, the freshwater quality is very inferior as this is highly contaminated with various kinds of disease-causing agents that do not leave the water quickly. Thus to eliminate the water contamination from the water, we need to treat it properly with a water purification system.
What Is a Water Purification System?
Water purification is a process which is mainly used to eliminate the pollutant present in the water. This can eliminate all kinds of pollutants present in water, whether it dissolves salts or microbial contamination. Previously boiling water is common among people to get contamination-free water, but today with increasing water pollution and industrialization, the water pollutant has become rigid and does not leave the water quickly. Thus, water needs to be adequately treated by modern and advanced water purification systems.
Conclusion
Almost all developed and developing countries across the nation are suffering from waterborne diseases, and the main reason for this disease is drinking contaminated water and lack of personal hygiene. According to several government officials and WHO reports, waterborne disease cases can be reduced easily by drinking pure and healthy and practicing good personal hygiene. WHO officials also advise us to wash our hands properly for at least 20 sections before having our meal and breakfast by the shop.
