Failure of sanitary wells to protect against cholera and other diarrhoeas in Bangladesh

Abstract

Within an area of Bangladesh in which the incidence of cholera was high, use of sanitary pipe wells did not protect against cholera or related non-cholera diarrhoeas because well users also used contaminated water sources regularly enough to maintain high infection-rates. Protection was found to correlate with education and wealth.

PIP: The relation between tubewell, a source of clean water, use and the incidence of cholera and other types of diarrhea was studied through observational methods in Bangladesh. Usage of various water sources and the correlation between tubewell usage and cholera incidence is graphed and tabulated. The use of sanitary pipe wells did not seem to protect against cholera or other types of diarrhea because well users also used other, contaminated sources of water. Families with greater education or greater wealth tended to use tubewell water more often than other families. Observed well usage did not relate to the distance from the wells, since traditional patterns of water use seemed to prevail.