Evaluation of Military Field-Water Quality: Volume 5, Infectious Organisms of Military Concern Associated with Consumption: Assessment of Health Risks, and Recommendations for Establishing Related Standards.

摘要

Considerable interest exists in establishing realistic standards for water quality as related to the transmission of infectious disease. The development of such standards is a complicated task that consciously, and frequently subconsciously, involves the concept of risk assessment. In the context of our study, risk assessment involves the relationship between the concentration of a pathogen in water and the likelihood of disease occurring in individuals who drink the water. A mathematical model was developed to take into account the variability of the pathogen concentration in water, and hence the dose, as well as the biological variability inherent in the dose-response relationship. An interactive computer program was developed that allows the user to select the organism of interest, the amount of water consumed, the treatment-alternative removal rate, the pathogen concentration, the dose-response model, and the number of susceptible individuals. Based on the users' selections, a computer-generated risk curve is produced. 67 refs., 27 figs., 109 tabs. (ERA citation 14:006441)