Prevent

Prevention of Waterborne Illness

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Prevention of Waterborne Illness, Prevention of Water-borne Illness, Waterborne Illness Prevention

  1. Do not drink tap water outside of countries with advanced filtration and chemical purification systems
  2. See Water Disinfection for effective methods
    1. Alcohol does not typically disinfect
    2. Freezing does not disinfect
  3. Keep a bottle of sterilized water (filtered, boiled, or chemically treated) near the sink
    1. Serves as a reminder to prevent contamination of Tooth Brushes, dentures and other personal items
  • Prevention
  • Swimming
  1. Swimming pool and hot tub precautions
    1. Avoid swimming in treated swimming pools if the water is murky or has an odor
    2. Check children in swim diapers frequently (risk of leakage)
    3. Disallow children under age 5 years from using hot tubs
    4. Those recovering from Diarrheal illness, should not use swimming pool for 7 days after resolution
    5. Shower before using swimming pool or hot tub
    6. Do not ingest water used for swimming regardless of method of treatment
  2. Skin precautions
    1. Cover open wounds with water proof bandages
    2. Do not immerse new open wounds (e.g. Tattoos)
  3. Wilderness precautions
    1. Bury stool to avoid contaminating water sources
  4. References
    1. CDC Model Aquatic Health Code
      1. https://www.cdc.gov/mahc/editions
  • Prevention
  • Other measures
  • References
  1. Wayman (2017) Crit Dec Emerg Med 31(6): 3-10