ArticlePloS one2015
Drinking water turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness in New York City, 2002-2009.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Quality of drinking water in the United Arab Emirates: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- The effectiveness of syndromic surveillance for the early detection of waterborne outbreaks: a systematic review.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Understanding the Impact of Rainfall on Diarrhea: Testing the Concentration-Dilution Hypothesis Using a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Environmental health perspectives · 2020Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the Time Series Studies Addressing the Endemic Risk of Acute Gastroenteritis According to Drinking Water Operation Conditions in Urban Areas of Developed Countries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- New York State Climate Impacts Assessment Chapter 10: Water Resources.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2024Article
- Heavy precipitation, drinking water source, and acute gastrointestinal illness in Philadelphia, 2015-2017.PloS one · 2020Article
- Watershed integrity and associations with gastrointestinal illness in the United States.Journal of water and health · 2019Article
- Assessing the magnitude and uncertainties of the burden of selected diseases attributable to extreme heat and extreme precipitation under a climate change scenario in Michigan for the period 2041-2070.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2019Article
- Household-stored drinking water quality among households of under-five children with and without acute diarrhea in towns of Wegera District, in North Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2018Article
- Drinking water and rural schools in the Western Amazon: an environmental intervention study.PeerJ · 2018Article
- Climate change-induced increases in precipitation are reducing the potential for solar ultraviolet radiation to inactivate pathogens in surface waters.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Review of Epidemiological Studies of Drinking-Water Turbidity in Relation to Acute Gastrointestinal Illness.Environmental health perspectives · 2017Review
- Effect of drinking water source on associations between gastrointestinal illness and heavy rainfall in New Jersey.PloS one · 2017Article
- Advancing the Use of Emergency Department Syndromic Surveillance Data, New York City, 2012-2016.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStudies have examined whether there is a relationship between drinking water turbidity and gastrointestinal (GI) illness indicators, and results have varied possibly due to differences in methods and study settings.
objectivesAs part of a water security improvement project we conducted a retrospective analysis of the relationship between drinking water turbidity and GI illness in New York City (NYC) based on emergency department chief complaint syndromic data that are available in near-real-time.
methodsWe used a Poisson time-series model to estimate the relationship of turbidity measured at distribution system and source water sites to diarrhea emergency department (ED) visits in NYC during 2002-2009. The analysis assessed age groups and was stratified by season and adjusted for sub-seasonal temporal trends, year-to-year variation, ambient temperature, day-of-week, and holidays.
resultsSeasonal variation unrelated to turbidity dominated (~90% deviance) the variation of daily diarrhea ED visits, with an additional 0.4% deviance explained with turbidity. Small yet significant multi-day lagged associations were found between NYC turbidity and diarrhea ED visits in the spring only, with approximately 5% excess risk per inter-quartile-range of NYC turbidity peaking at a 6 day lag. This association was strongest among those aged 0-4 years and was explained by the variation in source water turbidity.
conclusionsIntegrated analysis of turbidity and syndromic surveillance data, as part of overall drinking water surveillance, may be useful for enhanced situational awareness of possible risk factors that can contribute to GI illness. Elucidating the causes of turbidity-GI illness associations including seasonal and regional variations would be necessary to further inform surveillance needs.
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