Open AccessWater, sanitation and hygiene survey – Use of hydrogen sulfide strip at field level as a point-of-care test: A pilot study
Author(s) -
PV Shilpa,
Madhavi Bhargava
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
indian journal of public health/indian journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.381
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 2229-7693
pISSN - 0019-557X
DOI - 10.4103/ijph.ijph_76_17
Subject(s) - sanitation , hygiene , environmental health , test (biology) , concordance , public health , medicine , fecal coliform , environmental science , water quality , nursing , pathology , paleontology , ecology , biology
Safe drinking water is a basic element of primary health care. The government of India in its Indian Public Health Standards recommends the hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) strip test as a desirable component at primary health centers for screening water for fecal coliforms. The objective of the present study was to conduct a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) survey followed by a H 2 S strip test of drinking water in a village with ninety households. The test was positive in 88% at the source and the point of consumption, with 100% concordance between both the points of test. A subsample of water samples was subjected to testing in microbiology laboratory, and fecal contamination was confirmed in all of them. To conclude, H 2 S strip test can be conveniently used at field level, and its ease of use and visual nature of results make it a useful point-of-care test of environmental and public health.