Biological contamination of water in Russian water bodies and its epidemiological significance

Abstract

Drinking water, household water, and recreational water can be the vehicle of infections and invasions transmitted by fecal‑oral route. In this paper we studied the impact of the quality of water in water bodies on the incidence of enteric infections and invasions in the population of the Russian Federation based on the State reports “On the State of Sanitary and Epidemiological Well‑Being of the Population of the Russian Federation” issued by the Federal Center of Rospotrebnadzor in 2011–2020. Based on microbiological parameters, the quality of water from the centralized sources of water supply in the Russian Federation corresponds to microbiological parameters of water in waterworks before entering the distributive pipelines (3.5 and 2.9% off‑nominal tests, respectively, Rxy = 0.98). Giardia cysts were found in 0.06% of the assessed water samples collected from the centralized sources of water supply. This parameter correlates with the percentage of off‑nominal microbiological water tests (Rxy = 0.84). The values of biological water contamination tend to decrease. The incidence of acute enteric infections and giardiasis shows a negative trend and correlates with the indicators of biological water contamination obtained for water from the centralized sources of water supply and grade II reservoirs. The findings, that support the literature data on the impact of biological water contamination on the incidence of enteric infections and invasions in the population, highlight the relevance of maintaining the sanitary and hygienic condition, as well as providing thorough sanitary and hygienic control of water bodies.