title: Water outage increases the risk of gastroenteritis and eyes and skin diseases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present study used insurance claims data to investigate infections associated with short-term water outage because of constructions or pipe breaks.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study used medical claims of one million insured persons for 2004-2006. We estimated incidences of gastroenteritis and eye and skin complaints for 10 days before, during, and after 10 days of water supply restriction for outpatient visits and for emergency and in-patient care combined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was an increase in medical services for these complaints in outpatient visits because of water outages. Poisson regression analyses showed that increased risks of medical services were significant for gastroenteritis (relative risk [RR] 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26-1.37), skin disease (RR 1.36, 95% CI 1.30-1.42), and eye disease patients (RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.26-1.44). Similar risks were observed during 10-day lag periods. Compared with those in cool days, risks of medical services are higher when average daily temperature is above 30 °C for gastroenteritis (RR 12.1, 95% CI 6.17-23.7), skin diseases (RR 4.48, 95% CI 2.29-8.78), and eye diseases (RR 40.3, 95% CI 7.23-224).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We suggest promoting personal hygiene education during water supply shortages, particularly during the warm months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ling-Ya
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yu-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chung-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Trong-Neng
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chang-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Fung-Chang
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Chin-Ching
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult