No abstract

Risk factors for Cryptosporidiosis in United Kingdom.

Our results confirm previous reports of a high rate of relapse of gastrointestinal symptoms following recovery from an acute episode of cryptosporidiosis and show that C. hominis but not C. parvum is associated with an increased risk of nonintestinal sequelae. This study demonstrates that the impact of cryptosporidiosis on public health extends beyond that of the acute diarrheal illness and can lead to significant health sequelae.

No abstract

A case-crossover study compared rainfall in the 4 weeks before drinking water related outbreaks with that in the five previous control years. This included public and private drinking water related outbreaks in England and Wales from 1910 to 1999. Of 111 outbreaks, 89 met inclusion criteria and the implicated pathogens included Giardia, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, S. Typhi, S. Paratyphi, Campylobacter and Streptobacillus moniliformis. Weather data was derived from the British Atmospheric Data Centre There was a significant association between excess cumulative rainfall in the previous 7 days and outbreaks ( p ¼ 0.001). There was an excess of rainfall below 20 mm for the three weeks previous to this in outbreak compared to control weeks ( p ¼ 0.002). Cumulative rainfall exceedances were associated with outbreak years. This study provides evidence that both low rainfall and heavy rain precede many drinking water outbreaks and assessing the health impacts of climate change should examine both.