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Tratamiento de puntos de agua y reducción de diarrea en zonas de emergencia: una prueba de efectividad en Liberia
Author(s) -
Doocy Shan,
Burnham Gilbert
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2006.01704.x
Subject(s) - medicine , disinfectant , environmental health , context (archaeology) , waterborne diseases , incidence (geometry) , water treatment , geography , outbreak , environmental engineering , environmental science , physics , archaeology , pathology , virology , optics
Summary Communicable diseases are of particular concern in conflict and disaster‐affected populations that reside in camp settings. In the acute emergency phase, diarrhoeal diseases have accounted for more than 40% of deaths among camp residents. Clear limitations exist in current water treatment technologies, and few products are capable of treating turbid water. We describe the findings of a 12‐week effectiveness study of point‐of‐use water treatment with a flocculant–disinfectant among 400 households in camps for displaced populations in Monrovia, Liberia. In intervention households, point‐of‐use water treatment with the flocculant–disinfectant plus improved storage reduced diarrhoea incidence by 90% and prevalence by 83%, when compared with control households with improved water storage alone. Among the intervention group, residual chlorine levels met or exceeded Sphere standards in 85% (95% CI: 83.1–86.8) of observations with a 95% compliance rate.