info+on+clean+water+page

Ms. Mytko would support clean water initiatives, like the LifeStraw. About 43% of the global population does not have access to cleaned household water, so there is clearly a need.

The World Health organization says that "almost one tenth of the global disease burden could be prevented by: increasing access to safe drinking water, improving sanitation and hygiene, and improving water management to reduce risks of water-borne infectious diseases." Both the WHO site & Lifestraw tell that nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. Access to clean water could prevent most, if not all, of these deaths.

Diarrhea in such countries as Afghanistan (diarrhea accounts for 26% of the death among children aged <5 years), Eritrea (22%), Ethiopia (27%) is often caused by a variety of bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms. Death is usually attributed to fluid loss, and severe dehydration. Well-known diseases such a Cholera & Dysentery contribute to this horrific statistic. Diarrheal disease can be treated with a solution of clean water, sugar and salt, and with zinc tablets. In the US, this seems easy, but around the world this is a Herculean task. You can read more about diarrheal diseases on the WHO fact sheet.

I found it particularly staggering when reading out water provisions during emergency - clearly the first priority needs to be access to clean, uncontaminated water, and a plan for disposing of human waste in such a way that it will not contaminate the water supply. Add to this the fact that, in a mass emergency situation, people are often packed close together in camps or shelters, increasing their risk of infectious disease!

In situations of poverty or emergency, the LifeStraw seems an excellent first step. LifeStraw is basically a portable water filter. According to its site, it "effectively removes minimum 99.9999% of all waterborne bacteria, including // Escherichia coli //, // Campylobacter // , // Vibrio cholerae // , // Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella // and Salmonella and removes minimum 99.9% of waterborne protozoan parasites, including // Giardia lamblia // , // Cryptosporidium Parvum // and // Entamoeba histolytica // ." This is quite important (you can read the information about WHO's report on the most common bacteria below). The LifeStraw can be used for 3 years and has been tested up to 1000 liters of water. You can read about another LifeStraw test which clearly showed a reduction in diarrhea after its incorporation into the household.

From the WHO site, diarrhea seems to primarily be caused by bacteria. A // mong the principal bacterial agents of diarrhoeal diseases are Vibrio cholerae (cholera), a variety of Salmonella spp, including S typhi (typhoid fever), and of Shigella spp, the agents of shigellosis (bacterial dysentery), Campylobacter spp (especially C jejuni) and a variety of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli strains, including the enterotoxigenic ETEC strains that are the main agents of travellers’ diarrhoea. //

// Diarrhoeas can also be caused by a variety of bacterial pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium difficile or Klebsiella, as well as by various protozoa including Giardia, Cyclospora and Cryptosporidium spp (e.g. Giardia lambia, Cryptosporidium parvum) and Entamoeba histolytica. //

// Among the enteric viruses, rotaviruses remain the leading cause of diarrhoeal disease in young children in the world. //

I learned that there is actually a rotovirus vaccine for infants in the US! However, I imagine this may not be readily available in Southeast Asia and Africa,where diarrheal diseases are prevalent. If these countries are unable to provide a simple cure of water, sugar, salt, and zinc, I imagine they do not have access to the vaccine either.

If anyone is interested, here is a page through which you can donate to LifeStraw, as well as some of its other great initiatives!

Sources: WHO ( page 1, page 2 , Diarrhea page , ) LifeStraw site [|rotovirus vaccine page] - CDC