ArticleThe Science of the total environment2012
Comparison of fecal indicators with pathogenic bacteria and rotavirus in groundwater.
Article in The Science of the total environment, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 154 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vibrio cholerae in Water Environments: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Environmental microbiology reports · 2025Pooled it
- Fecal Indicator Bacteria Data to Characterize Drinking Water Quality in Low-Resource Settings: Summary of Current Practices and Recommendations for Improving Validity.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Fecal contamination of drinking-water in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2014Pooled it
- Pit latrines and their impacts on groundwater quality: a systematic review.Environmental health perspectives · 2013Pooled it
- Effect of Sanitation Improvements on Pathogens and Microbial Source Tracking Markers in the Rural Bangladeshi Household Environment.Environmental science & technology · 2020Trial
- Human fecal and pathogen exposure pathways in rural Indian villages and the effect of increased latrine coverage.Water research · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Comparative Evaluation of Crassphage, Pepper Mild Mottle Virus, and Human Mastadenovirus as Indicators of Human Fecal Contamination in Surface Water.Food and environmental virology · 2025Article
- Health Trade-Offs of Boiling Drinking Water with Solid Fuels: A Modeling Study.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- Quantifying Temporal Dynamics ofWater · 2025Article
- Distribution of host-specific Bacteriodales marker genes in water sources of selected rural areas of Vhembe District, South Africa.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Foodborne Viruses and Somatic Coliphages Occurrence in Fresh Produce at Retail from Northern Mexico.Food and environmental virology · 2024Article
- Rotavirus in Water Environments: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Environmental health insights · 2024Review
- How suitable is freshwater sponge Ephydatia fluviatilis (Linnaeus, 1759) for time-integrated biomonitoring of microbial water quality?Access microbiology · 2024Article
- Passive In-Line Chlorination for Drinking Water Disinfection: A Critical Review.Environmental science & technology · 2022Review
- Escherichia coli, Species C Human Adenovirus, and Enterovirus in Water Samples Consumed in Rural Areas of Goiás, Brazil.Food and environmental virology · 2022Article
- Microeukaryotic gut parasites in wastewater treatment plants: diversity, activity, and removal.Microbiome · 2022Article
- Spatial and temporal dynamics and potential pathogenicity of fecal coliforms in coastal shallow groundwater wells.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2022Article
- Surface Water Intrusion, Land Use Impacts, and Bacterial Community Composition in Shallow Groundwater Wells Supplying Potable Water in Sparsely Populated Areas of a Boreal Region.Microbiology spectrum · 2021Article
- Recovery of Nucleic Acids of Enteric Viruses and Host-SpecificApplied and environmental microbiology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
19 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Groundwater is routinely analyzed for fecal indicators but direct comparisons of fecal indicators to the presence of bacterial and viral pathogens are rare. This study was conducted in rural Bangladesh where the human population density is high, sanitation is poor, and groundwater pumped from shallow tubewells is often contaminated with fecal bacteria. Five indicator microorganisms (E. coli, total coliform, F+RNA coliphage, Bacteroides and human-associated Bacteroides) and various environmental parameters were compared to the direct detection of waterborne pathogens by quantitative PCR in groundwater pumped from 50 tubewells. Rotavirus was detected in groundwater filtrate from the largest proportion of tubewells (40%), followed by Shigella (10%), Vibrio (10%), and pathogenic E. coli (8%). Spearman rank correlations and sensitivity-specificity calculations indicate that some, but not all, combinations of indicators and environmental parameters can predict the presence of pathogens. Culture-dependent fecal indicator bacteria measured on a single date did not predict total bacterial pathogens, but annually averaged monthly measurements of culturable E. coli did improve prediction for total bacterial pathogens. A qPCR-based E. coli assay was the best indicator for the bacterial pathogens. F+RNA coliphage were neither correlated nor sufficiently sensitive towards rotavirus, but were predictive of bacterial pathogens. Since groundwater cannot be excluded as a significant source of diarrheal disease in Bangladesh and neighboring countries with similar characteristics, the need to develop more effective methods for screening tubewells with respect to microbial contamination is necessary.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.