Abstract

ORTIZ, Carolina; LOPEZ, Myriam C  and  RIVAS, Favio A. Helminth prevalence in a waste-water plant at El Rosal, Cundinamarca. Rev. salud pública [online]. 2012, vol.14, n.2, pp.296-304. ISSN 0124-0064.

Objective Assessing helminth egg prevalence in sludge and raw and treated wastewater from a wastewater treatment system located in the village of El Rosal, Cundinamarca. Methodology 30 wastewater and 10 sludge samples from the El Rosal plant were taken during a 10-week period. The sludge and water samples were processed according to the Bailinger and the official Mexican standard methodology, respectively. Egg viability was determined by the method described by Victórica & Galván and the Mexican official standard. Results Descriptive statistics were used for analysing data. 100 % of the untreated wastewater samples showed the presence of eggs and at least one viable helminth egg/litre was found in 90 % of them. 90 % of the treated wastewater samples were positive for the presence of eggs, finding that 70 % had at least one viable egg. All raw wastewater samples being dumped directly into the stream were positive for helminths; the same situation was found at the time of the viability test. All sludge samples were positive for helminths, finding that 100 % of these had at least one viable egg. Conclusion Using this water for crop irrigation and using the sludge as fertiliser is a potential risk for public health. The sludge can only be used in forestry activities, as long as it does not come into contact with humans.

Keywords : Epidemiology; helminthiasis; sewage; public health.

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