Types of Waterborne Diseases

Waterborne diseases cause many serious health problems to humans around the world. The problem has more significance to the developing and underdeveloped world, particularly in Africa, Asia and South America. Prevalence of waterborne diseases is related to generally poor and unhealthy sanitary conditions, as well as polluted environmental conditions. Many of the diseases caused by the human consumption of impure water are preventable if proper health and sanitation standards are enforced.

What is the Scope of Waterborne Diseases?

• Waterborne diseases are numerous, and they result from consumption of contaminated water. Some of the causes of this problem are the result of poverty, and others are related to negligence and corruption that often rob these nations of the necessary resources to combat these maladies.
  It is white a challenge to eradicate waterborne diseases due to these problems. The World Health Organization have set up programs in some third-world nations aimed at providing clean and sanitary water. This initiative may not go far enough, with subsequent cholera outbreaks reported in northern Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Cholera

• Cholera is an acute waterborne disease caused by the cholera bacterium. Its scientific name is Vibrio cholerae. Cholera may develop through the consumption of contaminated water. Some of the areas ravaged by cholera are underdeveloped countries, where raw and untreated sewage often contaminate the public drinking water sources. But this bacteria could also be found in some polluted rivers and water basins, and they also have been found in some coastal waters as well.

Arsenicosis

• Arsenicosis is a waterborne disease that results from consuming water with high levels of arsenic. The problem may develop over a long period of time, and individuals with this problem often don't have any symptoms in the early stages of the disease. The World Health Organization, recommends that the level of arsenic in drinking water should not exceed 0.01 mg per liter. High levels of arsenic in drinking water may lead to arsenic poisoning.

Diarrhea

• Diarrhea is also a symptom of waterborne disease. It often results in frequent discharge of watery feces from the bowels. Generally diarrhea may last for short time durations, usually from two to three days, but may also linger for longer periods depending on the intensity of the infection. Diarrhea is largely caused by poor and unhealthy sanitary conditions, and is more common in the underdeveloped world with poor sources of drinking water and other unhealthy sanitary conditions.

Hepatitis

• Hepatitis is a disease that affects the human liver. It is an inflammation of the liver. Two of the major bacteria that causes hepatitis have been identified by medical scientists as hepatitis A and hepatitis C. These two bacteria are often transmitted through drinking infected water, but it could also be transmitted through food. Hepatitis is contagious and can spread from one person to another. It also largely affects the underdeveloped world for the same reasons of drinking bad water, eating bad food and unsanitary environmental conditions.