Chlorination and pH of drinking water do not correlate with rates of melioidosis in the Northern Territory, Australia.
Prompted by 2 outbreaks of melioidosis with fatalities linked to culture-positive drinking water, we theorized that there may be a correlation between low drinking water pH or lack of chlorination and the rate of melioidosis in rural communities in tropical Australia. However, following adjustment for rainfall, such associations were not apparent in a multivariate regression model.
Menzies School of Health Research and NT Clinical School, Flinders University, Casuarina, NT, Darwin, Australia. allenc@menzies.edu.au
Alien C
AC
Cheng
Mark J
MJ
Mayo
Daniel
D
Gal
Bart J
BJ
Currie
D017606:Chlorine Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D015994:Incidence; D008554:Melioidosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015876:Northern Territory / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012423:Rural Health; D018508:Water Purification / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D017606:Chlorine Compounds