A case-control study was conducted to identify the aetiology of diarrhoeal diseases in pre-school children in a suburban area of Hanoi where the use of untreated wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture is a common practice. Stool specimens and clinical information were collected from 111 pairs of children with diarrhoea and healthy controls. A total of 73 cases (66 %) and 41 controls (36 %) had an enteric pathogen. The pathogens most often associated with diarrhoea were rotavirus (17 % of cases) and Entamoeba histolytica (15 %), followed by Shigella (5 %). Diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) was found in 23 % of both patients and controls. Characterization of DEC by serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility test and PFGE showed that DEC represented by different pathotypes belonged to various serotypes. Except for three enterotoxigenic E. coli strains, typing by PFGE revealed no correlation between pathotype and serotype of DEC strains. This suggests a high prevalence of a variety of DEC subtypes in this area. For this particular region, vaccine development strategies targeting rotavirus and Shigella are likely to be of public health benefit, whereas the role of DEC and preventive measures need to be further elaborated. INTRODUCTIONDiarrhoeal disease is a major problem throughout the world, and is responsible for high morbidity and mortality among children, especially in developing countries. Some aetiological studies of diarrhoeal diseases have been carried out in Vietnam (Isenbarger et al., 2001;Nguyen et al., 2005a), but not in areas where untreated wastewater is used in agriculture and aquaculture. The association of wastewater use and risks to human health has been assessed in various countries such as Israel, Morocco, Mexico and Pakistan, where wastewater is also commonly used for irrigation (Shuval et al., 1989;Feenstra et al., 2000;Habbari et al., 2000; Blumenthal et al., 2001; WHO, 2006). Some studies have highlighted a high risk of being infected with intestinal parasites and of getting diarrhoeal diseases, especially in small children who live in the wastewaterusing areas (Cifuentes, 1998;Cifuentes et al., 2000).In a hospital study, the prevalences of diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) were 22.5 and 12 % in the diarrhoea and control groups, respectively, but mainly due to a high frequency of enteroaggregative E. coli (EAggEC) (Nguyen et al., 2005a). Using dot-blot hybridization in another hospital-based study, eae-positive E. coli were found at a significantly higher prevalence in children with diarrhoea than in asymptomatic controls (Bodhidatta et al., 2007). In a study outside Hanoi, Campylobacter and Shigella were found to be associated with diarrhoea, and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) was the prevalent group of DEC (Isenbarger et al., 2001). None of these studies included detailed characterization of DEC.The aim of the present study was to determine the aetiology of diarrhoeal diseases in children from families engaged in Abbreviations: A/EEC, attaching and effacing Escherichia coli; DEC, di...

Summaryobjectives To determine the occurrence of and risk factors for diarrhoea in an adult population exposed to wastewater used for agricultural and aquacultural productions.methods An open cohort of 636 adults aged 15-70 years living in a wastewater-irrigated area in Hanoi was followed by weekly visit for 18 months. The aetiology and risk factors for diarrhoeal diseases were determined in a nested case-control study. Stool specimens and exposure information related to wastewater, hygiene, water and food consumption were collected from 163 unmatched pairs of cases and controls.results The incidence rate of diarrhoeal diseases was 28.1 episodes per 100 person-years at risk. Of the 326 stool specimens, 47 cases and 24 controls were identified with enteric pathogens, of which diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli and Entamoeba histolytica were the most common. Risk factors for diarrhoeal diseases included contact with wastewater [odds ratio (OR) = 1.98, attributable fraction of the population (AF) 35%], not washing hands after defecation (OR = 3.34, AF 3%), drinking water from a well (OR = 6.21, AF 6%), consumption of raw or undercooked foods (OR = 2.45, AF 6%), and contact with persons with diarrhoea (OR = 4.22, AF 5%).conclusion Wastewater contact was the principal risk factor for diarrhoea in this population. As the local economy depends on the use of wastewater for agriculture and aquaculture, it is important to find ways to mitigate the public health risks associated with this use, in addition to promotions of personal, domestic and food hygiene.

This study was done to assess the risk of helminth infection in association with wastewater-fed rice cultivation in an agricultural setting of Nam Dinh city, Vietnam. In a cross sectional survey data were collected for 202 households in a commune where wastewater was used for irrigation and for 201 households in a commune that used river water. Parasitological examination was conducted on single stool samples obtained from 1,088 individuals aged ≥15 years from the households. The irrigation water used in both communes was enumerated for helminth eggs and thermotolerant coliforms. The prevalence of infection with Ascaris spp., Trichuris spp., and hookworm was 42.2%, 19.9% and 10.5% respectively, with an overall prevalence of infection with any helminth of 53.4%. Surprisingly, the prevalence of infection with Ascaris and Trichuris was lower among people exposed to wastewater (containing 40–200 helminth eggs/l and 104 thermotolerant coliforms/100 ml) compared to people exposed to river water that contained lower worm egg and bacterial numbers. Poor sanitation and hygiene practices and not using protective measures were important independent risk factors for helminth infection. For hookworm infection, no significant difference was observed between the wastewater exposed and unexposed groups. Children living in the wastewater use area had a significantly better nutritional status than those in the area using river water. This suggests a generally higher welfare level of the wastewater use area. In conclusion, this study showed no evidence that rice cultivation with wastewater poses a risk for helminth infection. More detailed studies are needed on the reduction of fecal indicators and helminth eggs in peri-urban wastewater-irrigated rice culture systems and on the relative importance of wastewater irrigation compared to other risk factors for human helminth infection such as poor sanitation and poverty.

The use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture is widespread in many developing countries, but limited information is available about the health hazards associated with this practice. To study the occurrence of skin ailments in relation to wastewater use in agriculture and aquaculture, an open cohort of 636 adults aged 15-70 years living in a wastewater-irrigated area in Hanoi, Vietnam, was followed by weekly visits for 12 months. A nested case-control study with 108 case/control pairs was conducted to investigate possible risk factors for skin ailments. The incidence rate of skin ailments was 32.5 episodes per 100 person-years at risk. Independent determinants of skin ailments included wastewater contact in the past 7 days (odds ratio (OR=2.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29-5.82), female gender (OR=2.48, 95% CI 1.06-5.76), fish farming-related jobs (OR=3.47, 95% CI 1.27-9.50) and lack of protective measures (OR=2.24, 95% CI 1.21-4.12). It is likely that effective promotion of personal protective measures and improved hygiene practices amongst wastewater users will mitigate the risk of dermatological problems and will thus be of benefit to public health in communities that rely on the use of wastewater for agricultural and aquacultural productions.