Skip Navigation


IJE Advance Access originally published online on May 24, 2006
International Journal of Epidemiology 2006 35(4):1051-1058; doi:10.1093/ije/dyl105
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
35/4/1051    most recent
dyl105v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Heyworth, J.
Right arrow Articles by Finlay-Jones, J
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Heyworth, J.
Right arrow Articles by Finlay-Jones, J
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2006; all rights reserved.

Article

Consumption of untreated tank rainwater and gastroenteritis among young children in South Australia

JS Heyworth1,2,*, G Glonek3, EJ Maynard4, PA Baghurst5 and J Finlay-Jones2,6

1 School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia
2 Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia
3 School of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia
4 Population Health, Department of Health, Adelaide, South Australia.
5 Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia.
6 Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia.

* Corresponding author. School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia. E-mail: Jane.Heyworth{at}uwa.edu.au

Background Tank rainwater is a source of untreated drinking water in Australia and elsewhere. The aim of this study was to determine whether the risk of gastroenteritis among children who drank tank rainwater differed from that of children who drank treated public mains water.

Methods A cohort study of 1016 4- to 6-year old children who drank rainwater or treated mains water in rural South Australia was undertaken in 1999. Parents kept a daily diary of their child's gastrointestinal symptoms and water consumption for a period of 6 weeks. Data on respiratory illness and other risk factors for gastroenteritis were also collected.

Results The incidence of gastroenteritis among children was 3.8–5.3 episodes per child-year, but most episodes (60%) lasted just 1 day. No increase in odds of gastroenteritis was observed among children who drank rainwater compared with treated mains water. The adjusted odds ratio for gastroenteritis associated with rainwater consumption compared with mains consumption was 0.84 (95% confidence interval 0.63–1.13).

Conclusions Gastroenteritis was found to be a significant cause of morbidity among young children. Young children, who were regular consumers of tank rainwater, were at no greater odds of gastroenteritis than those who drank treated public mains water.

Keywords Gastroenteritis, drinking water, rainwater, children

Accepted 13 April 2006


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.