Solar disinfection of water for diarrhoeal prevention in southern India
Open accessAbstract
AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of solar irradiation in the prevention of diarrhoeal morbidity in children under 5 years of age, in an urban slum in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. METHODS: A total of 100 children were assigned to receive drinking water that had been subjected to solar disinfection in polyethylene terephthalate bottles. One hundred age and sex matched controls were also selected. Both groups were followed by weekly home visits for a period of six months for any diarrhoeal morbidity. At the end of the follow up period, the acceptability of the intervention was assessed by interviews, questionnaires, and focus group discussions. RESULTS: There was significant reduction in the incidence, duration, and severity of diarrhoea in children receiving solar disinfected water, despite 86% of the children drinking water other than that treated by the intervention. The incidence of diarrhoea in the intervention group was 1.7 per child-year, and among controls 2.7 per child-year, with an incidence rate ratio of 0.64 (95% CI -0.48 to 0.86). The risk of diarrhoea was reduced by 40% by using solar disinfection. In qualitative evaluation of acceptability, most women felt that solar disinfection was a feasible and sustainable method of disinfecting water. CONCLUSIONS: Solar disinfection of water is an inexpensive, effective, and acceptable method of increasing water safety in a resource limited environment, and can significantly decrease diarrhoeal morbidity in children.
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An intervention that provided mothers with treated water was successful in reducing diarrhea in school children by 40% and was considered a feasible solution by the participating mothers.
“An intervention that provided mothers with treated water was successful in reducing diarrhea in school children by 40% and was considered a feasible solution by the participating mothers (Rose et al., 2006).”
From A Systematic Review of Water and Gender Interlinkages: Assessing the Intersection With Health (2020) · cites this paper as Rose et al., 2006
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- Authors
- Rose, A.
- Affiliations
- Christian Medical College, Vellore (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Rose, A
- ORCID
- Rose, A
- Venue
- Archives of Disease in Childhood
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2005-05-24
- Volume
- 91
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 139-141
- ISSN
- 0003-9888 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-2044
- PMC
- PMC2082686
- OpenAlex
- W2081069019
- Cited by
- 142
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 3.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Archives of Disease in Childhood (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Water Treatment and Disinfection
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology
- Keywords
- solar disinfection, drinking water, diarrhea prevention, children under five, urban slums, water safety, treatment acceptability, resource-limited settings, Vellore
- MeSH terms
- Child, Preschool, Consumer Behavior, Developing Countries, Diarrhea, Infantile, Disinfection, Epidemiologic Methods, Humans, India, Infant, Poverty Areas, Sunlight, Water Microbiology, Water Supply, Water Purification
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