Detecting Enteric Pathogens in Low-Risk Drinking Water in Dhaka, Bangladesh: An Assessment of the WHO Water Safety Categories

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease

article

Sabera Saima¹  Jannatul Ferdous¹  Rebeca Sultana²  Ridwan Bin Rashid¹  Sara Almeida²  Anowara Begum¹  Peter Kjær Mackie Jensen² 

[1] Department of Microbiology, University of Dhaka;Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, Section for Global Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen;Department of Life Sciences, School of Environment and Life Sciences, Independent University;icddr;Institute of Health Economics, University of Dhaka

关键词: drinking water;    WHO guidelines;    enteric pathogens;    E. coli;    Bangladesh;   

DOI  :  10.3390/tropicalmed8060321

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The microbiological quality of water is usually assessed by fecal coliform bacteria, and the presence of E. coli as an indicator of fecal contamination is widely recommended by international guidelines. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of diarrheagenic pathogens, in both public and personal domain water sources and examine the reliance on the WHO drinking water risk assessment guidelines. This study was conducted in a low-income urban community in Dhaka, Bangladesh between September 2014 and October 2015. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the marker and virulence genes of Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella species, and Campylobacter species, and the culture method was employed for the quantitative assessment of E. coli. According to the WHO guidelines, 48% of the public domain source water and 21% of the personal domain point-of-drinking water were classified in the low-risk group, i.e., 0 CFU of E. coli/100 mL. However, when using PCR, we detected pathogens in 39% (14/36) of the point-of-drinking water samples and 65% (74/114) of the public domain water source samples classified in the low-risk group. Our study showed that relying solely on E. coli detection as a measure of water quality may overlook the presence of other pathogens in the drinking water. In addition to the culture-based method, the detection of virulence genes by PCR should also be considered to add more scrutiny to the detection of diverse types of pathogens.

【 授权许可】

CC BY