Water disease worst in Europe

A SURVEY of water-borne outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis in 16 European countries found Ireland had the highest incidence.

The number of cases per head of population in Ireland in 2005 was seven times greater than the European average, according to a newly published report in Eurosurveillance, a leading scientific journal reporting on communicable disease.

The incidence per 100,000 head of population in Ireland was 13.7 compared with an average of 1.9 per 100,000 across the 16 countries. The next highest incidence was in Britain, where there were 9.3 cases per 100,000. The cases were reported to the European Basic Surveillance Network in 2005.

The authors of the report, Dr Jan C Semenza of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and Gordon Nichols of the UK Health Protection Agency, found infection was more commonly reported in children, particularly very young children.

Cryptosporidium causes diarrhoeal disease that can be particularly severe in people with weakened immune systems.

Outbreak investigations and analytic studies have associated the disease with drinking water supplies, animal contact, travel, and swimming pools.