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Epidemiologic Study for the Association between Phenol Contaminated Drinking Water and Poor Pregnancy Outcomes in Taegu City.
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Jung Han Park, Ju Young Lee
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Korean J Epidemiol. 2000;22(1):20-31.
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 Abstract
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Abstract
From 14 to 17 March 1991 the Nakdong River which is a major source of drinking water for Taegu was contaminated with phenol that was spilled out of a factory in Gumi industrial park. Many people who drank the contaminated water complained of various symptoms and were apprehensive of possible adverse effect to the fetus.
This study was conducted to examine the effect of drinking water contaminated with phenol on pregnancy outcome in Taegu. All of livebirths and stillbriths delivered in the 5 General Hospitals in Taegu during 1 year from 1 April 1991 were included for this study. For this duration, total number of babies delivered in the 5 General Hospitals was 21,196. Among them, 77.7%(16,468) were delivered from women living in Taegu and it accounted for 47.5% of 34,688 livbirths registered in Taegu during the same period. The babies born to the women living in Taegu were divided into phenol-exposed and unexposed groups. Exposed group was the residents of the area where contaminated water was supplied and they accounted for 81.4% of the women included for this study. Unexposed group was the residents of the area where drinking water was not contaminated with phenol and they accounted for 18.6% of the study subjects. Data were abstracted from the hospital records. All the rates were adjusted for the maternal age and parity by direct method.
The abortion rates for the exposed group was 1.7 per 1,000 abortions and livebirths and 1.6 for the unexposed group.
The stillbirth rate for the exposed group was 10.5 per 1,000 livebirths and stillbirths 20 weeks of gestation and 9.5 for unexposed group. The early neonatal death rate(within the 1st week after birth) for the exposed group was 7.8 per 1,000 livebirths and 5.4 for the unexposed group. The perinatal death rate for the exposed group was higher as 14.1 per 1,000 livebirths and stillbirths 28 weeks of gestation than 10.8 for the unexposed group. The proportions of intrauterine growth retardation(IUGR) were 2.7% for the exposed group and 3.3% for the unexposed group. Congenital anomaly incidence rates per 1,000 livebirths was 7.4 for the exposed group and 8.4 for the unexposed group. The low birthweight incidence rate for the exposed group was 6.6% and 6.5% for the unexposed group. These differences between two groups were not statistically significant. The premature birth rate(< 37 completed gestational week) was 6.0% for the exposed group and 4.8% for the unexposed group and the difference was statistically significant(p<0.05).
Monthly variation of these indices did not show any clue that suggested concurrent change with the phenol contamination of the drinking water.
There were no sufficient evidence that could support the hypothesis of adverse effects of phenol contaminated water on pregnancy outcome, such as abortion, stillbirth, premature birth, IUGR, congenital anomalies and early neonatal death.
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Summary
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An Epidemiologic Investigation of Typhoid Fever Outbreak in 0hchun Middle and High Schools Located in Young-il Gun Kyungpook Province.
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Jung Han Park, Ju Young Lee, Do Young Lee
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Korean J Epidemiol. 1995;17(1):94-104.
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Abstract
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Abstract
An epidemiologic investigation was conducted to identify the source of infection and the mode of transmission of typhoid fever outbreak occurred in Ohchun middle and high schools located in Young il Gun, Kyungpook Province from May 21 to Jun 4, 1994. Four out of 13 hospitalized students in three general hospitals in Pohang City were culture positive typhoid fever (Salmonella typhi Group D). Review of the in and outpatient logbooks of the three general hospitals in Pohang City, county health center and local clinics in the vicinity of the Ohchun middle and high schools suggested that the outbreak was confined to the schools. Drinking water source of the schools was two underground water pumps that had no treatment facilities; one in northern end and the other in southern end of the main school building.
However, the southern water pump was closed on April 28, 1994 because a recent test for the water revealed E-coli suggesting a possible fecal contamination. Two hundred twenty students stated that they had experienced symptoms related to typhoid fever since April l, 1994 in a self administered questionaire survey of all of the 2, 226 students. Personal interviews with these 220 students were performed to confirm the clinical history together with a rectal swab culture for typhoid fever and Widal test. A total of 39 patients were detected; 15 confirmed cases (culture-positive) and 24 suspected cases (symptom positive with equal to or greater than 1:160 titer of Salmonella O-antibody or 1:320 titer of H-antibody titer in Widal test). The epidemic curve showed a unimodal curve with a peak on the second week(17 May, 1994) and tailed down to the 5th week (22 28 May, 1994). The overall incidence rate of typhoid fever was 1.8 per 100 students; 1.5 (1.6 for male, 1.5 for female) in the middle school and 2. 4 (6. 2 for male, 0. 4 for female) in the high school. When contrasted with the students who did not drink water at all in the school, the relative risks of incidence rate of typhoid fever for the students who drank the underground water of the school, both underground water and water brought from home, or water brought from home only were 55.5, 19.0, and 3.0 respectively. Three classes which had especially high incidence rates of typhoid fever were located in the southern part of the main school building, where the contaminated underground water pump is located. These findings suggested that the source of infection was the contaminated underground water of the school. Both of the two underground water pumps were closed permanently and the public running water was supplied to the schools.
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