Towards an Integrated Approach to Improve the Understanding of the Relationships Between Water-Borne Infections and Health Outcomes: Using Malaysia as a Detailed Case Study

Abstract

As in many low- and middle-income countries around the world, thousands of local communities in Southeast Asia rely on river water to sustain their livelihoods. However, poor water quality threatens the health of both humans and ecosystems. The aim of this review was to examine the available literature to investigate how health outcomes in Malaysia have been studied and reported as directly attributable to human infections from river water. Computer-aided searches from 10 electronic databases were undertaken, with searches limited to the English language and publication dates since January 2010. The literature search revealed that the predominant river water infections identified in Malaysia were bacterial (coliforms, Salmonella spp., typhoid, leptospirosis, melioidosis), viral (including dengue, hepatitis, enterovirus), parasitic infections including amoebiasis, giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, helminth infections, Blastocystis infections and sarcocystosis. No studies were found that have attempted to evaluate the impact of water related infection on human health longitudinally. Moreover, the possibility of integrated water governance systems that could reduce infection and improve water quality, particularly for marginalized groups have not been discussed or studied. Several cross-sectional studies identified infections at a point in time, but large longitudinal data sets of water infection parameters and how they influence human health outcomes have not been reported. Using Malaysia as a demonstration case study, we suggest a number of recommendations based on using a systems approach to tackle the challenges involved in data collection and integration, which is central to the understanding, strategic planning and management of water-borne infections.

Application of the Human Viral Surrogate Pepper Mild Mottle Virus for Wastewater Fecal Pollution Management

“…However, bacteria have been demonstrated to be substantially less persistent in the environment and significantly less resistant to wastewater treatment than enteric viruses [31]. Consequently, FIB are subpar predictors of the risk of viral infection, which implies that current water-quality monitoring programs based only on FIB are insufficient [109].…”

An Ultrasensitive Voltammetric Genosensor for the Detection of Bacteria Vibrio cholerae in Vegetable and Environmental Water Samples

“…Rapid population growth and urbanization, however, contributed to polluting surface and ground waters and caused hundreds of millions of people to lack access to safe drinking water [ 1 ]. Contaminated water may act as a source for disease transmission and lead to the outbreak of water-related diseases, such as the cholera parasitic disease and the Hepatitis E viral infection [ 2 , 3 ].…”

Change in Immune Biomarkers of Laboratory Mice Responding to Experimental Inoculation of Different Drinking Water Quality from Selected Dairy Farms

“…Also, certain water contaminants known as endocrine disruptors such as atrazine, phenols, and phthalates can reduce reproductive efficiency in humans and animals by interfering with the reproductive cycle (Rattan et al, 2017). The risk of important bacterial (coliforms, Salmonella spp., typhoid, leptospirosis, melioidosis), viral (including dengue, hepatitis, enterovirus), and parasitic (amoebiasis, giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, helminth infections, Blastocystis infections and sarcocystosis) infections of livestock are increased by poor drinking water quality (Rahman et al, 2021;Ho et al, 2022). However, there is no data on the abnormal physiological and pathological effects in host cells due to consuming substandard water quality in Malaysia.…”