The Flint Water Crisis-due to changes of water source and treatment procedures-has revealed many unsolved social, environmental, and public health problems for US drinking water, including opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPP). The true health impact of OPPP, especially in vulnerable populations such as the elderly, is largely unknown. We explored 108 claims in the largest US national uniformly collected data repository to determine rates and costs of OPPP-related hospitalizations. In 1991-2006, 617,291 cases of three selected OPPP infections resulted in the elderly alone of $0.6 billion USD per year of payments. Antibiotic resistance significantly increased OPPP illness costs that are likely to be underreported. More precise estimates for OPPP burdens could be obtained if better clinical, microbiological, administrative, and environmental monitoring data were cross-linked. An urgent dialog across governmental and disciplinary divides, and studies on preventing OPPP through drinking water exposure, are warranted.
Keywords: US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; drug resistance; hospitalization; older adults; opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens.