title: Waterborne parasites: a current status from the Philippines.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the amount of awareness created, waterborne disease still poses threat, especially in developing countries. Due to the scarcity of reported data on waterborne parasites, the consumption of unsafe water prolongs. Thus, the occurrences of waterborne parasites from various samples were investigated from one of the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of thirty three samples, each consisting of twelve liters, were collected and processed to obtain the sediment. Ten liters of sample each was processed to detect Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. using an immunomagnetic separation method prior to enumeration via fluorescence microscope. Meanwhile, the remaining two liters were cultured to detect Acanthamoeba and Naegleria through microscopy examination and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve samples (36.4%) from river (5), swimming pool (1), pond (3), rain tank (1), and natural lake (2) were positive for Cryptosporidium spp., 17 (45.5%) samples from river (9), pond (2), swimming pool (1), rain tank (1), and natural lake (4) were positive for Giardia spp. while, 13 (33.3%) samples from river (3), swimming pool (2), pond (2), dispenser (1), well (1), tap (2) and natural lake (2) were positive for Acanthamoeba spp. and 5 (18.2%) samples from river (1), natural lake (1), tap (1), dispenser (1) and mineral (1) were Naegleria spp. positive. Physical parameters such as temperature, conductivity, total dissolved solid (TDS), salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and turbidity and chemical parameters such as ammonia, chlorine, fluoride, nitrate and nitrite were also measured. The highest chemical contamination was observed at pond 2. A good correlation was observed between Giardia and nitrite (r = 0.736, p < 0.01) and Giardia and nitrate (r = 0.502, p < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study was aimed to create greater awareness of parasitic contamination in the water environment in the Philippines and also to act as a platform of the current scenario for policymakers as water pollution is a key health issue in this region.
authors.forename: Subashini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Onichandran
authors.forename: Thulasi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Cristina C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Salibay
authors.forename: Julieta Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Dungca
authors.forename: Hazel Al
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Tabo
authors.forename: Norbel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tabo
authors.forename: Tian-Chye
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Yvonne Al
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Nongyao
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sawangjaroen
authors.forename: Sucheep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Phiriyasamith
authors.forename: Hemah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Andiappan
authors.forename: Init
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ithoi
authors.forename: Yee-Ling
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology (Southeast Asia Water Team), Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. nissapat@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Veeranoot
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nissapatorn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D010679:Philippines; D011891:Rain; D013551:Swimming Pools / Q000592:standards; D060753:Water Quality; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*