By Helen Albert, Senior medwireNews Reporter Findings from a UK
study published in PLoS ONE suggest that small private drinking
water supplies, typically found in countryside locations, are
more likely to be contaminated and result in gastrointestinal
illness in children than standard mains water supplies. "We
found a particularly high incidence of diarrhoea in children
under 10 in homes provided by water which was contaminated with
bacteria. The results showed that these children would suffer
almost five incidents a year - a risk of illness similar to that
reported in developing countries," said investigator Paul Hunter
(University of East Anglia, Norwich) in a press statement. "This
is a serious concern. As well as children being more at risk,
they also suffer the most from an episode of diarrhoea - with
greater rates of hospitalization and higher mortality rates," he
added. The researchers enrolled 600 individuals living in 264
households in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Herefordshire receiving
water from small pr