Compliance with advice to boil drinking water during an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis. Outbreak Investigation Team.
All 2000 employees of a hospital in an area of the North Thames region where 300,000 households were advised to boil tap water before consumption during a large outbreak of cryptosporidiosis were surveyed about compliance with and adverse events linked to the boil water notice. Eighty-five per cent (408/479) of respondents who lived in the boil water area said that they used boiled water while the notice was in place, 72% (347) used bottled water, and 12% (59) did not continue to boil water for the whole 16 days. Although 88% believed that they were following the advice, 20% washed food that would be eaten raw in unboiled tap water and 57% used it to clean their teeth. If a boil water notice is applied for more than a few days it may be helpful to issue a detailed follow up letter.
Willocks
L J
LJ
PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, Cambridge. LWillocks@phls.nhs.uk
Sufi
F
F
Wall
R
R
Seng
C
C
Swan
A V
AV
D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards