Waterborne Diseases: Symptoms, Causes, Prevention and Treatment

Water is essential for human life, but untreated water can lead to serious health consequences. Each year, millions of people around the world experience waterborne infections. This typically occurs in countries with poor sanitation and hygiene, as well as limited access to safe drinking water. To protect yourself and your community, it is important that you are aware of waterborne diseases, such as where they come from, how they manifest, and how to prevent them.

What Are Waterborne Diseases?

Waterborne diseases are caused when germs, or pathogens, such as viruses, parasites, and bacteria, are transmitted by contaminated water. They can enter the body through drinking water, washing food, bathing, or even simply touching contaminated water. The majority of waterborne infections manifest in the digestive tract, explaining the most common symptoms resulting from infections including nausea, diarrhoea, and dehydration.

Causes of Waterborne Diseases

Water can become contaminated for a number of different reasons, including:

• Sewage pollution - When human or animal waste runs off into drinking water supplies.
• Industrial waste - factories dump chemicals or heavy metals into lakes and rivers.
• Agricultural runoff - groundwater contains pesticides and fertilizers.
• Not enough sanitation - not enough trash cans or clean toilets.
• Natural disasters - Flooding and other natural disasters can put germs and contaminants into clean water.

Common Waterborne Diseases and Their Symptoms

Waterborne diseases can be mild infections or serious illnesses that can kill you, depending on the sort of organism that caused them. Most of them are caused by a bacterium, virus, or parasite that gets into a host by food or water that has been contaminated. It is vital to find symptoms early so that consequences are less likely and treatment may begin right away. Here is a list of some of the most frequent waterborne infections and how they affect the body.

1. Cholera: Cholera is one of the most well-known and serious watery infections. It is caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae. You can get cholera by drinking water or eating food that has faeces from an infected person on it. 

• One of the main symptoms of cholera is a lot of watery diarrhoea, which is sometimes called "rice-water stools." This can quickly lead to dehydration and an electrolyte imbalance. Other signs include be throwing up, muscle cramps, and low blood pressure. If treatment isn't started right once, dehydration can cause shock and death within hours in more severe cases. It's crucial to start rehydration right away and stress sanitation when cholera cases are found to stop more cases from happening.

2. Typhoid Fever: Typhoid fever is a dangerous illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi. It can be spread by eating or drinking food or water that has been contaminated. After being eaten, the bacteria get into the intestines and grow in the blood. 

• Some of the symptoms are a high fever, weakness, a headache, stomach pain, loss of appetite, and constipation or diarrhoea. A mild, rose-colored rash may appear on the chest or abdomen. If you don't treat typhoid, it might cause your intestines to get very sick and perhaps break. It is important to detect typhoid early since getting antibiotics quickly and practicing good hand hygiene can help lower the risk of getting sick again. It is also a good idea to get the typhoid vaccine.

3. Hepatitis A: The Hepatitis A virus (HAV) causes hepatitis A, which is an infection of the liver. Eating or drinking food or water that has been contaminated by someone who has the virus in their stool is the most typical way for it to spread. It can make you sick and impair how your liver works. 

• People who are sick feel fatigued, sick to their stomach, throw up, lose their appetite, have stomach discomfort, black urine, or yellow skin (jaundice). Most adults do not have chronic Hepatitis A, however the disease might last longer if the liver is inflamed. Getting vaccinated, keeping things clean, and washing your hands properly can stop epidemics of hepatitis A.

4. Giardiasis: Giardiasis is a parasitic ailment caused by the parasite Giardia lamblia. It is often found in water that has been contaminated by lakes, rivers, or municipal water that has not been treated correctly. After you eat it, the parasite sticks to the lining of your intestines, which causes the symptoms to come back. 

• Some of the symptoms are watery diarrhoea, bloating, stomach pains, extreme tiredness, and oily stools that may smell bad. Symptoms might linger for weeks, and if you don't get treatment, you could lose a lot of weight and get dehydrated. Boiling or filtering drinking water and washing hands often are two ways to avoid getting sick. This is especially important for people who live in locations where the municipal water supply isn't stable..

5. Dysentery: Dysentery is an inflammation of the intestines that usually causes diarrhoea with blood or mucus, stomach pain, fever, and nausea. Dysentery can be caused by an infection with either Shigella bacteria (sometimes called bacillary dysentery) or the protozoan Entamoeba histolytica (amoebic dysentery). Contaminated food or drink, or not keeping clean, can spread the disease to other people. 

• Extreme weakness or dehydration can happen with severe dysentery. Amoebic infections can also cause problems, like abscesses in the liver. To avoid being sick, you should wash your hands often, keep things clean, and stay away from food and water that might not be safe.

6. Cryptosporidiosis: This disease is caused by the Cryptosporidium parasite and is a prevalent cause of diarrhoea that spreads through water over the world. This parasite can live in swimming pools and purified water supplies because it is resistant to chlorine disinfection. 

• Signs of an infection are watery diarrhoea, stomach pains, dehydration, weight loss, nausea, and a moderate temperature. Most of the time, a healthy person will feel better in two weeks. For people with a weak immune system, including those with HIV/AIDS, the infection can become long-lasting and life-threatening. To avoid getting sick, you should filter or boil water before drinking it.

Treatment Options

How bad the sickness is and what kind it is will affect how it is treated. The most frequent ways to do this are:

• Rehydration therapy: Oral rehydration solutions (ORS) or intravenous (IV) fluids to replenish fluids and salts that have been lost.
• Antibiotics or antivirals: For certain bacterial or viral infections, like hepatitis A or typhoid.
• Antiparasitic drugs, like metronidazole for giardiasis or amoebic dysentery, are used to treat these diseases.
  • Rest and supportive care: Make sure you are hydrated and well-fed while your body heals.

Home Remedies

Some home treatments may assist with mild symptoms, but a medical approach is still important:

• Fluids: To stay hydrated, drink boiled or filtered water, coconut water, or oral rehydration salts (ORS).
• Ginger tea: This could assist with nausea and stomach ache that just started.
• Bananas and rice are easy to digest and might help make your faeces firmer.
• Probiotics: Eating yoghurt and other fermented foods may help bring back healthy gut bacteria.

Preventive Measures

Not getting sick from drinking water is the best way to keep healthy. Here are some ways to stay safe:

• Boil the water, filter it, or drink it directly from the bottle to be sure it's safe. 
• Before you eat and after you go to the toilet, wash your hands with soap. 
• Food safety: Wash your fruits and veggies in clean water. 
• If the place is dirty, don't eat food from the street. 
• Use UV purifiers or chlorination pills as needed to clean the water source. 
• Don't dump rubbish in lakes, rivers, or wells because these are where we get our water. 
• Get shots to keep yourself safe from infections like typhoid and hepatitis A. 

When You Should Go to the Doctor

If you have any of these, you should see a doctor straight away:

• Diarrhoea that lasts more than two days or hurts a lot
• A dry mouth, not peeing much, and feeling dizzy are all signs that you are dehydrated.
• A high temperature or blood in the stool
• Throwing up makes it hard to swallow fluids
• The skin or eyes turning yellow (may be hepatitis)

Finding and addressing problems early can save lives and prevent them from getting worse.

Conclusion  

Waterborne diseases are a global health threat, but good hygiene, sanitation, and safe water use can stop many of them. People and communities can considerably minimise their risk and live better lives if they know what causes them, what the signs are, and how to stay away from them.

FAQs

1. How long do infections spread through water last? 

If not treated, mild infections go away in a few days, but serious illnesses like typhoid can remain for weeks.

2. Does boiling water destroy all germs?

Yes, boiling water for at least 1–3 minutes will destroy most viruses, bacteria, and parasites that cause diseases that spread through water.

3. Can kids get shots to protect them from infections that spread through water? 

Yes, there are vaccines for typhoid and hepatitis A, which are two of the most common illnesses in kids in poor communities.