Conroy R M, Meegan M E, Joyce T, McGuigan K, Barnes J
Department of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Royal College of Surgeons, Mercer Building, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland.
Arch Dis Child. 2001 Oct;85(4):293-5. doi: 10.1136/adc.85.4.293.
We have previously reported a reduction in risk of diarrhoeal disease in children who used solar disinfected drinking water. A cholera epidemic, occurring in an area of Kenya in which a controlled trial of solar disinfection and diarrhoeal disease in children aged under 6 had recently finished, offered an opportunity to examine the protection offered by solar disinfection against cholera.
In the original trial, all children aged under 6 in a Maasai community were randomised by household: in the solar disinfection arm, children drank water disinfected by leaving it on the roof in a clear plastic bottle, while controls drank water kept indoors. We revisited all households which had participated in the original trial.
There were 131 households in the trial area, of which 67 had been randomised to solar disinfection (a further 19 households had migrated as a result of severe drought). There was no significant difference in the risk of cholera in adults or in older children in households randomised to solar disinfection; however, there were only three cases of cholera in the 155 children aged under 6 years drinking solar disinfected water compared with 20 of 144 controls.
Results confirm the usefulness of solar disinfection in reducing risk of water borne disease in children. Point of consumption solar disinfection can be done with minimal resources, which are readily available, and may be an important first line response to cholera outbreaks. Its potential in chorine resistant cholera merits further investigation.
我们之前曾报道，饮用经太阳能消毒的饮用水的儿童患腹泻病的风险有所降低。在肯尼亚的一个地区发生了霍乱疫情，该地区最近刚刚完成了一项针对6岁以下儿童的太阳能消毒与腹泻病的对照试验，这为研究太阳能消毒对霍乱的防护作用提供了契机。
在最初的试验中，马赛社区所有6岁以下的儿童按家庭进行随机分组：在太阳能消毒组，儿童饮用通过放在屋顶透明塑料瓶中进行消毒的水，而对照组儿童饮用保存在室内的水。我们回访了所有参与最初试验的家庭。
试验区有131户家庭，其中67户被随机分配到太阳能消毒组（另有19户家庭因严重干旱而迁移）。在随机分配到太阳能消毒组的家庭中，成年人或大龄儿童患霍乱的风险没有显著差异；然而，饮用经太阳能消毒水的155名6岁以下儿童中仅有3例霍乱病例，而144名对照组儿童中有20例。
结果证实了太阳能消毒在降低儿童水源性疾病风险方面的有效性。在消费点进行太阳能消毒所需资源极少且易于获取，可能是应对霍乱疫情的重要一线措施。其在耐氯霍乱方面的潜力值得进一步研究。
