INVESTIGADORES
CRUZ Mercedes Cecilia
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Water and Human Health in Latin America
Autor/es:
POMA, RAMIRO; CRUZ, MERCEDES CECILIA; RAJAL, VERONICA
Lugar:
Rio de Janeiro
Reunión:
Simposio; Latin American Symposium of Environmental Virology; 2010
Institución organizadora:
Instituto FIO CRUZ
Resumen:
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In Latin America,
economic globalization has meant the increased movement of people and goods and
changes in environmental and occupational health hazards, often occurring in
the context of political and economic instability. Of the estimated 183 million
people living in poverty in Latin America, more
than half are children and teenagers, 72 % of them live in urban areas, and
mortality and morbidity impact especially the infant population. Acute
respiratory infections (mainly pneumonia) and diarrhea, followed by measles,
malaria (and frequently a combination of them) are the most common causes of
morbidity and mortality among children under the age of five in the developing
world. Malnutrition, socioeconomic status, disruption of traditional
lifestyles, accessibility to clean water and sanitation facilities, age and
their breast-feeding status are the main factors that influence the incidence
of diarrhea.
The World Health Organization (2006) estimated
that about 1.5 million deaths per year from diarrheal diseases, mainly in
children, are attributable to environmental factors such as contaminated
drinking water, poor sanitation and poor hygiene. In the Americas, for the period of
2000-2005 the children mortality due to acute diarrheas was 3.7 % and the
Andean region was the most affected with 7.8 %.
A large portion of the total burden of
diarrheal disease is caused by fecal-oral pathogens from both human and animal
sources that are discharged into the aquatic environments.
A great variety of pathogens, including
bacteria (Escherichia coli, Shigella, Salmonella, Campylobacter,
Aeromonas, Clostridium dificile), mycobacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium
avium-intracellulare), viruses (rotavirus, adenovirus, enterovirus
serotypes 40 and 41, norovirus, astroviruses), fungi (the role is not clear but
Candida is frequently associated with
persistent diarrhoea), and parasites (Giardia
lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, Microsporidia, Strongyloides stercoralis), can contribute to persistent, as well
as to acute, diarrheal illnesses. The pathogenic parasites and bacteria on this
non-extensive list have been well studied; numerous drug treatments have been
developed that are accessible and affordable for most of the population.
Conversely, viruses are difficult to detect and because of the lack of effective
treatments the main strategy to decrease viral impact must be monitoring and
prevention.