A status survey of common water-borne diseases in desert city Bikaner (NW Rajasthan, India).

Water is scarce and, in general, a low quality resource in desert areas and the Indian desert is no exception. With this in view, the present study was taken up to survey the status of common water-borne diseases epidemiological trends in the desert city Bikaner (NW Rajasthan). In the city, 15.5 per cent population and 44.5 per cent families were found to suffer from one or more common water-borne diseases including amoebiasis, diarrhoea, dysentery, jaundice and typhoid. No case of fluorosis was recorded. The highest incidence was that of diarrhoea (5.4 per cent population). The worst affected and safe zones in the city were identified and the trends of different diseases in different zones of the city are discussed. The highest incidence of diseases was noted during summer (58.8 per cent) followed by winter (34.1 per cent) and monsoon (7.0 per cent). Relationship of diseases with population attributes like age, education, economy and family size are also discussed. Attributes for contamination of drinking water have been tried to identify and safety measures suggested.