Giardia duodenalis infection and wastewater irrigation in Pakistan

Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Jun;100(6):538-42. doi: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2005.08.014. Epub 2005 Dec 5.

Abstract

The risk of Giardia duodenalis (Giardia) infection in farmers using untreated wastewater in agriculture was investigated in the city of Faisalabad, Pakistan, through a cross-sectional study. The study found a significantly increased risk of (asymptomatic) Giardia infection in wastewater farming households when compared with farming households using regular (non-wastewater) irrigation water (OR 3.3, 95% CI 2.5-4.4). Textile labourers who were employed in the city of Faisalabad but who lived in the same village as the wastewater farmers showed a risk of Giardia infection in between that of wastewater and non-wastewater farming households (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.9-3.1). This study suggests that exposure to wastewater with high Giardia concentrations carries an increased risk for (asymptomatic) Giardia infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agricultural Workers' Diseases / etiology*
  • Agricultural Workers' Diseases / parasitology
  • Animals
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Diarrhea / epidemiology
  • Diarrhea / parasitology
  • Giardiasis / epidemiology*
  • Giardiasis / etiology
  • Humans
  • Occupational Exposure / adverse effects
  • Pakistan / epidemiology
  • Risk Factors
  • Sewage / adverse effects
  • Sewage / parasitology*

Substances

  • Sewage