title: Holy springs and holy water: underestimated sources of illness?
abstract: Use of holy springs and holy water is inherent in religious activities. Holy spring water is also used extensively for personal drinking water, although not assessed according to drinking water standards. Holy water in churches and chapels may cause infections via wetting of lips and sprinkling on persons. Our aim was to assess the microbiological and chemical water quality of holy springs and holy water in churches and hospital chapels. Of the holy springs investigated, only 14% met the microbiological and chemical requirements of national drinking water regulations. Considering results from sanitary inspections of the water catchments, no spring was assessed as a reliable drinking water source. All holy water samples from churches and hospital chapels showed extremely high concentrations of HPC; fecal indicators, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus occurred only in the most frequently visited churches. We conclude that it is highly necessary to include holy springs in programs for assessment and management of water quality. Public awareness has to be raised to perceive holy springs as potential sources of illness. Holy water can be another source of infection, especially in hospital chapels and frequently visited churches. Recommendations are made for proper water quality management of both water types.
authors.affiliation: Medical University Vienna, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology, Water Hygiene, Kinderspitalgasse 15, A-1095, Vienna, Austria. alexander.kirschner@meduniwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Alexander K T
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Kirschner
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Atteneder
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmidhuber
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knetsch
authors.forename: Andreas H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Farnleitner
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sommer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060985:Natural Springs / Q000032:analysis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D012067:Religion; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical