title: [The scientific contributions by the Roman School of Hygiene on the microbiological quality of the surface waters of Rome and her County from 1890 to 2010. A systemic review].
abstract: Research on quality of surface waters has been performed also in Italy during the development of the large urban areas, and in Rome this has been the duty of the Istituto di Igiene of the Sapienza University since 1890. Using MedLine--and also traditional consultation for papers printed before 1968--we identified 100 articles printed in the period 1890-2010. Thirty of them met the inclusion criteria (to have been written by researchers belonging to the Rome universities and to contain microbiological informations about the surface waters of Rome). The majority of papers identified (46.6%) were produced during the years Sixties and Seventies of the 20th century, and 30% in the twenty years to follow (1980-1999). The most frequent microbiological descriptors were "Total coliforms" and "Streptococci". The waterbodies most investigated were the Tiber river and the coastal waters around Fiumicino, where the Tiber flows into the Tyrrhenian sea. The quality of surface waters has always been a central interest of the research performed by the Hygienists of the Roman School. The good quality of the past research and the renovated interest of International Organizations and of the European Union should encourage the public health researchers toward a strategic field of investigation which has strong interconnections with the protection of the individual and community health and also with the protection of the environment.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Malattie Infettive, Sapienza Università di Roma. caterinapalazzo@libero.it
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Palazzo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Montacutelli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Del Vecchio
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Solimini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marinelli
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Lombardi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Giusti
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Fara
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boccia
mesh_terms: D006920:Hygiene; D007558:Italy; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D012106:Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012384:Rome; D012576:Schools, Health Occupations; D013997:Time Factors; D014871:Water Microbiology / Q000592:standards