title: Bacterial contamination of drinking water and the economic burden of illnesses for the Nepalese households.
abstract: A household survey was conducted to determine the number of working days lost and household medical expenditure (ME) due to six water-borne diseases in the Terai region of Nepal. Drinking water sources of each household were analysed for total coliforms (TC). The study found 61% of the household water sources were contaminated with TC at the time of sampling. Number of days lost due to water-borne diseases was 8 days for TC-negative households and 10 days for TC-positive households per year. The average annual household medical expenditure was NR 459 for TC-negative households, and NR 789 for TC-positive households (p = 0.02 at proportional to = 0.05). Regression result showed that the presence of TC in the drinking water sources, number of children in the household and income of the household significantly determined ME.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, Nepal. atreya@ku.edu.np
authors.forename: Kishor
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Atreya
authors.forename: Santosh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Panthee
authors.forename: Prem
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001419:Bacteria; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009390:Nepal; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012423:Rural Health; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014867:Water; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014873:Water Pollutants; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D014873:Water Pollutants; D014867:Water