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. 2003 Feb 4;100(3):1051-5.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0237386100. Epub 2003 Jan 14.

Reduction of cholera in Bangladeshi villages by simple filtration

Rita R Colwell  1 , Anwar Huq, M Sirajul Islam, K M A Aziz, M Yunus, N Huda Khan, A Mahmud, R Bradley Sack, G B Nair, J Chakraborty, David A Sack, E Russek-Cohen
Affiliations

Reduction of cholera in Bangladeshi villages by simple filtration

Rita R Colwell et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Based on results of ecological studies demonstrating that Vibrio cholerae, the etiological agent of epidemic cholera, is commensal to zooplankton, notably copepods, a simple filtration procedure was developed whereby zooplankton, most phytoplankton, and particulates >20 microm were removed from water before use. Effective deployment of this filtration procedure, from September 1999 through July 2002 in 65 villages of rural Bangladesh, of which the total population for the entire study comprised approximately 133,000 individuals, yielded a 48% reduction in cholera (P < 0.005) compared with the control.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Electron micrographs of a single layer of sari cloth filters. Pore size is 100–150 μm in old (laundered) sari cloth, but ≈ 20 μm if folded four to eight times.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of cholera cases among control, sari filtration, and nylon filtration groups of villages.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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