Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110450

Kaoruko Seino, MMS, Nguyen K.L. Quang, MD, Takehito Takano, MD, PhD, Keiko Nakamura, MD, PhD, Masafumi Watanabe, MD, Tomoko Inose, MMS, Masashi Kizuki, MD, MPH, and Akie Kaneko. Health Promotion/International Health, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Yushima 1-5-45 Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, +81-3-5803-5190, seino.ith@tmd.ac.jp

People living on boats along the Huong River in Hue City, Vietnam, have inadequate access to drinking water. They use drinking water stored in containers on their houseboats. The quality of stored drinking water is a concern from the viewpoint of public health. We examined disease patterns among people living on boats and bacterial contamination of water stored in household containers for drinking. The study population consisted of 741 households living on boats in Hue City. The quality of water samples was assessed by the rehydratable film method (Petrifilm) for three bacterial indicators: Escherichia coli, total coliform count, and Enterobacteriaceae. E.coli counts >10, total coliform counts >200, and Enterobacteriaceae counts >200 were considered to indicate a risk of bacterial contamination. E.coli, total coliform, and Enterobacteriaceae were found in 25.6%, 64.1%, and 68.0% of stored household drinking water samples examined, respectively, and 6.3%, 11.7%, and 19.4% of the samples were within the respective ranges indicative of bacterial contamination. Of the total number households in this study, 63.2% households boiled their drinking water. E.coli, total coliform, and Enterobacteriaceae counts were within the ranges of bacterial contamination in 5.0%, 9.6%, 15.5% of those stored water after boiling. No significant correlations were found between the degree of bacterial contamination of drinking water and specific diseases. The results of the present study suggested that a supply of safe potable water and a suitable education program regarding boiling of drinking water and storage after boiling are required for the households on boats along the Huong River.

Learning Objectives:

• • Describe bacterial quality of water that households on boats use for drinking.
  • Discuss the necessity of delivery of safe tap water and a education program of water handling practices.

Keywords: Water Quality, Vietnam

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.