Protozoan Parasites in Drinking Water: A System Approach for Improved Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Developing Countries

Alua Omarova, Kamshat Tussupova, Ronny Berndtsson, Marat Kalishev and Kulyash Sharapatova
Additional contact information
Alua Omarova: Department of Nutrition and General Hygiene, Karaganda State Medical University, Gogol Street 40, Karaganda 100008, Kazakhstan
Kamshat Tussupova: Department of International Cooperation and Bologna Process, Karaganda State Medical University, Gogol Street 40, Karaganda 100008, Kazakhstan
Ronny Berndtsson: Division of Water Resources Engineering & Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
Marat Kalishev: Department of Nutrition and General Hygiene, Karaganda State Medical University, Gogol Street 40, Karaganda 100008, Kazakhstan
Kulyash Sharapatova: Department of Surgery, Gynecology and Pediatry, Semey State Medical University, Pavlodar Branch, Toraigyrov Street 72/1, Pavlodar 140000, Kazakhstan

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are significant in preventing diarrhea morbidity and mortality caused by protozoa in low- and middle-income countries. Due to the intimate and complex relationships between the different WASH components, it is often necessary to improve not just one but all of these components to have sustainable results. The objective of this paper was to review the current state of WASH-related health problems caused by parasitic protozoa by: giving an overview and classification of protozoa and their effect on people’s health, discussing different ways to improve accessibility to safe drinking water, sanitation services and personal hygiene behavior; and suggesting an institutional approach to ensure improved WASH. The findings indicate that Giardia and Cryptosporidium are more often identified during waterborne or water-washed outbreaks and they are less sensitive than most of the bacteria and viruses to conventional drinking water and wastewater treatment methods. There are various institutions of control and prevention of water-related diseases caused by protozoa in developed countries. Unfortunately, the developing regions do not have comparable systems. Consequently, the institutional and systems approach to WASH is necessary in these countries.

Keywords: protozoan parasites; drinking water; WASH; Giardia; Cryptosporidium; developing countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/3/495/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/3/495/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:3:p:495-:d:135836

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().