title: Giardia duodenalis infection and wastewater irrigation in Pakistan.
abstract: The risk of Giardia duodenalis (Giardia) infection in farmers using untreated wastewater in agriculture was investigated in the city of Faisalabad, Pakistan, through a cross-sectional study. The study found a significantly increased risk of (asymptomatic) Giardia infection in wastewater farming households when compared with farming households using regular (non-wastewater) irrigation water (OR 3.3, 95% CI 2.5-4.4). Textile labourers who were employed in the city of Faisalabad but who lived in the same village as the wastewater farmers showed a risk of Giardia infection in between that of wastewater and non-wastewater farming households (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.9-3.1). This study suggests that exposure to wastewater with high Giardia concentrations carries an increased risk for (asymptomatic) Giardia infection.
authors.affiliation: International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Pakistan, Iran. jeroen.ensink@lshtm.ac.uk
authors.forename: Jeroen H J
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ensink
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: van der Hoek
authors.forename: Felix P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Amerasinghe
mesh_terms: D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012722:Sewage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage