title: [Contamination of a water system with sewage].
abstract: The purpose of the study was to examine the extent of illness caused by contamination of a waterworks with waste water due to overflow. Structured questionnaires were mailed to all 703 households (the main study group) and four day-care centers supplied by the waterworks as well as a group of 200 randomly chosen households in neighbouring communities with a different water supply. Fourteen hundred and fifty-five persons (88% of respondents in the main study group) reported that they had had symptoms of gastroenteritis, particularly diarrhoea (83%) and vomiting (55%). In the control group, 10% of respondents had had symptoms of gastroenteritis. Onset of diarrhoea correlated well with precipitation (Spearman's correlation coefficient: 0.75; p = 0.0002). No pathogens were found. It is important to be aware of the possibility of water contamination when an increased number of cases of gastroenteritis are observed in a local area and to report even a suspicion of waterborne diseases to the county public health office.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiologisk afdeling, Embedslaegeinstitutionen for Frederiksborg Amt, og Statens Seruminstitut, København.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mygind
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Laursen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rønne
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D003718:Denmark; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D012722:Sewage; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014876:Water Pollution; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage
vernacular_title: Forurening af et vandvaerk med kloakvand.