Solar disinfection of drinking water protects against cholera inchildren under 6 years of age

摘要

BACKGROUND AND AIMS—We have previously reported a reduction in risk of diarrhoeal disease in children who used solar disinfected drinking water. A cholera epidemic, occurring in an area of Kenya in which a controlled trial of solar disinfection and diarrhoeal disease in children aged under 6 had recently finished, offered an opportunity to examine the protection offered by solar disinfection against cholera.
METHODS—In the original trial, all children aged under 6 in a Maasai community were randomised by household: in the solar disinfection arm, children drank water disinfected by leaving it on the roof in a clear plastic bottle, while controls drank water kept indoors. We revisited all households which had participated in the original trial.
RESULTS—There were 131 households in the trial area, of which 67 had been randomised to solar disinfection (a further 19 households had migrated as a result of severe drought). There was no significant difference in the risk of cholera in adults or in older children in households randomised to solar disinfection; however, there were only three cases of cholera inthe 155 children aged under 6 years drinking solar disinfected watercompared with 20 of 144controls.
CONCLUSIONS—Results confirm theusefulness of solar disinfection in reducing risk of water bornedisease in children. Point of consumption solar disinfection can bedone with minimal resources, which are readily available, and may be animportant first line response to cholera outbreaks. Its potential inchorine resistant cholera merits further investigation.