These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: CDC provides guidelines on suspect water supplies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
    Journal: AIDS Alert; 1995 Aug; 10(8):101-3. PubMed ID: 11362676.
    Abstract:
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that immunocompromised people avoid exposure to cryptosporidium in outbreak settings by drinking water that is boiled, filtered, or bottled. A parasite, cryptosporidium is spread when persons ingest infected feces of humans or animals, or eat raw or undercooked vegetables contaminated with an egg-like form of the parasite. Symptoms include watery diarrhea, headache, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever; in immunocompromised patients infection often leads to weight loss, dehydration, and may become life-threatening. Drugs can treat the symptoms, although cryptosporidiosis is not curable and often recurs in severely immunocompromised patients. To prevent becoming infected; HIV-positive people should not drink water from lakes, rivers, and swimming pools; avoid unpasteurized milk or milk products; wash hands after contact with pets or with soil; and follow safe-sex guidelines. The CDC also recommends that in settings with an outbreak of cryptosporidium, individuals boil water for one minute to kill the parasite or use a filter for tap water that is capable of removing particles less than one micron in diameter. A third option is to use bottled water for drinking, although it is difficult to know which is safe since no organization regulates it.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]