Water is certainly the source of life. But with the potentiality to harbor infectious germs that can cause dangerous effects on the human body, one has to take careful precautions to determine when the water supplied through the tap is safe to drink and when it’s not. If you want to protect your family and loved ones from the diseases caused by unsafe water, having a water purifier like RO and UV is a must that can eradicate 99% of such infectious contaminants and make it safe to drink.
According to “The World Health Organization (WHO)”, every year, more than 3.4 million people die from water-borne diseases, which itself makes the brutal cause of diseases and death in the world.
The pathogens available in the contaminant water are invisible to the human eyes and are responsible for the various form of diseases like bacteria, viruses, and protozoa to count a few.
Henceforth, in this article, we will cover the 12 most common waterborne diseases, their symptoms, precautions, and causes.
12 Common Waterborne Diseases
1. Typhoid Fever
About the disease:
Typhoid fever is caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. S. Typhi can be a life-threatening disease. It is the same type of bacteria found in the types of eggs and chicken and is also commonly known as food poisoning or salmonella poisoning. It is the most common type of bacteria found in the developing world. A person suffering from typhoid can transfer harmful bacteria into their bloodstream and the intestinal tract.
Causes:
Typhoid could be caused by consuming the food and water that have been infected with the disease. Also, it may transfer to food and water while cooking.
Symptoms:
Patients suffering from typhoid have a continuous fever as high as 103° to 104° F (39° to 40° C). You may feel weakness, headache, loss of appetite, and stomach pains. Other symptoms include the rashes across also called the red spots. For the proper diagnosis, you should get samples of stool or blood tested by the doctor.
Precautions:
Use soapy or hot water to wash hands, and avoid drinking contaminated and untreated water. Use a high-quality water purifier that can remove the available germs from the water, and eat raw fruits and vegetables.
2. Cholera
About the Disease:
Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness that is widely caused by the infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It’s a severe water-borne disease that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholera, typically abstained by consuming dirty water. If not treated on time, it can also cause death in some rare cases.
Causes:
The disease gets transmitted through the ingestion of feces poorly polluted with the bacterium. When the untreated water goes through the sewage into the waterways, it affects the domestic water supply and also the foods washed by it. However, the person to person transmission is rarely found.
Symptoms:
There are various types of symptoms cholera patients can experience such as the general GI tract upset, profuse diarrhea, vomiting (it may sustain for 1 hour in severe cases), nausea, and dehydration.
Precautions:
Drink and use safe filtered water, and wash your hands often with soap. Cook your food well, especially the non-veg. Places where the family baths and wash clothes should be neat and clean.
3. Hepatitis A
About the disease:
Hepatitis A is a liver-related disease and is caused by the virus hepatitis A virus (HAV) which impacts anyone. It is often found in the stool of the patient with Hepatitis A and can drastically outspread from person to person. The virus gets easily transmitted in places having poor sanitary conditions or where hygiene factors are not taken into consideration. If a person is affected with Hepatitis A, he/she can affect the rest people living in the same home.
Causes:
The major cause of the source of this disease gets polluted feces from the infected humans, the virus gets quickly spread in the water and can enter through various mediums such as broken sewage systems and sewage overflows.
Symptoms:
The most common issues are jaundice or the yellowness of the skin, eyes, and dark yellowish urine, fatigue loss of appetite, fever, stomach pain, and nausea.
Precautions:
First thing first, if there are people around you affected by hepatitis A, keep a distance from them. And follow good hygiene practices especially while washing your hands. Drink and use clean water in cooking.
4. Hepatitis E
About the disease:
Hepatitis E virus is a real cause of the disease which can be largely spared by the uses of drinking contaminated water. It is widely found in countries where human waste is allowed to throw into rivers and ponds, without being purified. The regular consumption of polluted water leads to develop epidemics.
Causes:
Similar to other above diseases, the real cause of Hepatitis E is also contaminated drinking water, hygiene issues, and the regular intake of dirty food.
Symptoms:
The typical symptoms of Hepatitis E include dark urine, pale stools, jaundice that leads to the yellow discoloration of the skin and the sclera of the eyes, anorexia (the loss of appetite) hepatomegaly (tender liver), and an acute illness that damages liver cells, and sometimes might also cause the death.
Precaution: Don’t consume contaminated water or street food cooked in unhealthy oil, avoid eating undercooked meat, and wash your hands with water and soap after using a bathroom or toilets.
5. Traveler’s Diarrhea
About the Disease:
Sometimes also known as Aztec Two-Step, Montezuma’s Revenge, Turista Traveler’s Diarrhea is the most common waterborne disease that widely affects travelers. Every year around twenty to fifty percent of international travelers (approx 10 million persons) who travel to different countries get affected by this disease after returning home.
Traveler’s Diarrhea generally occurs within the first week but might also occur any time during travel and even after returning from home. There is a high risk of determinant destinations in Asian Countries where the attack rates are for both men and women both while the primary source of infection is indigestion of the severely pestiferous water and food.
Causes:
80% of Traveler’s Diarrhea is caused by bacterial enteropathogens. Apart from the coli and other types of bacterial pathogens, there are a variety of other parasitic and viral enteric pathogens that are also the real cause of causative agents.
Symptoms
Generally, most of the Traveler’s Diarrhea begin abruptly whereas the travelers experience four to five water bowel movement each day. Other common symptoms are abdominal cramping, fever, bloating, vomiting, diarrhea, and malaise. But the good side is that it’s not a life-threatening disease and one can recover from it within 1 week or maximum 1 month.
Precautions:
One can manage the traveler’s diarrhea by avoiding contaminated food and drinks. If the problem still continues, make sure to take the effective medical treatment which is usually the combination of antimotility and antibiotic.
6. Giardia and Cryptosporidium
About the disease:
Giardia and Cryptosporidium are microscopic organisms or cysts that could be found in the water body. The availability of Giardia in the water causes an intestinal illness that is medically called giardiasis or sometimes also referred to as “beaver fever”. It’s the most common sort of waterborne disease found in both drinking as well as recreational water. On the other hand, Cryptosporidium leads to a similar type of illness called cryptosporidiosis.
Causes:
The drinking water gets contaminated when the parasites are mixed or get flushed into the water. If the right treatment is not taken, the blend of harmful parasites can lead to severe illness. A lot of communities claim that giardiasis is closely linked to drinking normal municipal water contaminated with Giardia.
Symptoms:
Regular weight loss, abdominal cramps, malaise, and Diarrhea are the most common symptoms of Giardia. Besides, chills, headaches, fever, and committing may also occur. One can experience these symptoms six to sixteen days after the initial contact and can continue for around one month. The symptoms of cryptosporidiosis are also similar such as nausea, headaches, abdominal cramps etc. These symptoms may occur within two to 25 days and can last up to 15 days, while in some critical cases, it may persist for up to a month.
Precautions:
One can get in touch with Giardiasis by using contaminated recreational water which mostly includes the swimming pools. So try to avoid swimming while suffering from diarrhea, or take a shower before and after swimming. Also, avoid gulping recreational water, and wash your hands before using the toilet or changing diapers.
7. Dysentery
About the Disease:
Dysentery refers to any case of infectious bloody diarrhea and is also known as the bloody flux, flux, travelers dysentery, and Montezuma Revenge. This mostly affects the people living in developing areas like India where they have improper sanitation. It indicates the response of the body to an unwanted visitor in the digestive system.
Causes:
The most common causes of Dysentery is the Entamoeba histolytica and a number of other bacteria including the shigella bacteria and E. histolytica which often thrives in the food and water polluted by the human feces. As far as Amoebic dysentery is considered, it’s usually transmitted by polluted water.
Symptoms:
People afflicted with the disease often suffer from bloody diarrhea along with intense fever, stomach pain, and rapid weight loss. Besides, it may also cause diminutive stools mixed with mucus and blood, among all cramps are the most common symptoms. Sometimes, infected individuals may also experience a painful strain.
Precautions:
The very first thing you can do to avoid Dysentery is to use germs-free water. Secondly, always wash your hands before using the toilet. And avoid shaking hands with people suffering from Dysentery.
8. Salmonella
About the Disease:
Salmonellosis is an infection caused by the bacteria termed Salmonella which is better known to cause the health illness. There are various types of Salmonella bacteria spread through human or animal feces. The drinking water can also be contaminated when wild domestic animals leave their droppings in or near water surfaces such as rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, etc.
Causes:
Salmonella virus can be found in water contaminated with the feces of infected animals or humans. The harmful waste can be mixed in the water through various mediums including polluted stormwater runoff, agricultural runoff, etc. Other types of common infections may occur through undercooked poultry, eggs, and other sorts of contaminated water and food.
Symptoms:
The most common symptoms of salmonellosis include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. In the case of infants, dehydration can also occur. Sometimes individuals can also be infected without showing symptoms, and can automatically recover within 6-7 days.
Precaution:
Family members who are suffering from salmonellosis should avoid cooking food at home and avoid swimming. Avoid buying dirty or contaminated food. Also unpasteurized should also be avoided.
9. Campylobacter
About the disease:
In humans, Campylobacters are the bacteria that are a leading cause of diarrhea-infused illness. They are regarded as the most generic bacterial cause of gastroenteritis globally. The disease is widely caused by the presence of campylobacters viruses. In most developing countries, the presence of Campylobacter infections is fatigue increasing. They are broadly prevalent in food animals such as cattle, pigs, poultry, shellfish, and ostriches.
Causes:
Campylobacter can transmit into your system if you use undercooked food derived from poultry. The bacteria are widely present in animals such as poultry and cattle. Apart from that, unpasteurized milk can also contain Campylobacter bacteria. It spreads more quickly in isolated cases whereas, in developing countries, it can be found in the water and sewage.
Symptoms:
The effect of the Campylobacter virus usually lasts up to a week. The most common symptom of the disease is diarrhea, also the stool might also have the presence of blood in it that might sicken your stomach and make you vomit. Other signs include bloating, fever, and belly cramps.
Precaution:
In order to avoid the effect of the respective virus, you should cook the poultry to at least 165 F. Also avoid eating pink meat, it has to be white, and never add under-cooked chicken to your meal. For further safety, drink clean purified water, and wash your hands properly with soap and water after using a toilet or bathroom.
10. Legionellosis
About the Disease:
Often referred to as the form of pneumonia, Legionnaires is a lung inflammation that is usually caused by an infection. But the good news is that this disease doesn’t spread from person to person contact. Most people get affected by the diseases by inhaling the water droplets from the contaminated water. The most common victims of this disease are smokers, adults, and those who have weakened immune systems.
Causes:
It’s widely caused by a bacterium medically known as Legionella which mostly survives in soil and contaminated water. Legionella bacteria can twofold in all sorts of water systems like hot tubs, air conditioners, and the mist sprayers available in grocery store produce departments. Also, inhabitants may also get affected by these diseases from the home plumbing systems by the outbreaks usually occurring in large buildings.
Symptoms:
Legionellosis develops in 2 to 10 days after its exposure to Legionella bacteria and can frequently release the symptoms like- chills, muscle pain, headache, and fever (104 F (40 C) or higher).
Precautions:
Infection spread by Legionellosis can be prevented. All you have to do is just the meticulous cleaning and disinfection of water, pools, and spas.
11. Botulism
About the disease:
Botulism is a fatal illness that is usually caused by botulinum toxins. If not treated on time, it can also cause paralysis that often starts with the face and can spread to limbs. If in any case, it reaches the breathing muscles, it can result in wicked respiratory failure. There are different types of botulism such as Wound botulism, Infant botulism, Iatrogenic botulism, and Adult intestinal colonization.
Causes:
It’s basically a botulinum toxin, a poison produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and usually exists in untreated water and soil. Even the minimal consumption of toxins can cause terrible poisoning.
Symptoms:
Some signs and symptoms may include- respiratory difficulties, slow or improper reflexes, floppiness and poor muscle tone, no gag reflex, constipation, poor feeding, a bad temper, excessive drooling when feeding, sagging eyelids, flat facial expression, weak crying weakly, unfocused eyes, weak sucking.
Precaution:
In order to reduce the risk of Botulism, one needs to follow the good practice of food hygiene. Avoid canning food at home, wash vegetables and fruits with filtered water, boil home processed food for at least 10 minutes, ensure all foods are well cooked, and drink clean water.
12. Vibrio Illness
About the disease:
Produced by the Vibrio bacteria, also known as the Vibrosis, Vibrio habitats in the coastal water. There are around 12 species of vibrio that can cause gastrointestinal illness (gastroenteritis) in humans. They are usually found in the months between May – October when the weather is warmer.
Causes:
The real cause of vibrio illness is the habit of eating undercooked food, mostly cooked in untreated water. While the open would is exposed to the salty water, vibrio can also cause severe skin infection.
Symptoms:
When ingested, the vibrio virus can also cause watery diarrhea that may result in painful abdominal cramping, vomiting, nausea, fever, and chills. Such symptoms might occur within 24 hours of ingestion.
Precautions:
All you can do to stay away from such a virus is just use filtered water and eat well-cooked vegetables. Once you see the sign of Vibrio, do consult a good doctor for further prevention.
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