Hand hygiene and water quality assessment in schools of Muthanna province, Southern Iraq
Introduction: The severe drought and prolonged heat waves in Iraq have adversely affected the water quality supplied to public facilities. Schools are among the most affected facilities by water scarcity. This work aims to evaluate the level of students’ hand hygiene, and the quality of municipal (...
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The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Infection in Developing Countries |
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| Online Access: | https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/17264 |
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| author | Saad M Hantoosh |
| author_facet | Saad M Hantoosh |
| author_sort | Saad M Hantoosh |
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Introduction: The severe drought and prolonged heat waves in Iraq have adversely affected the water quality supplied to public facilities. Schools are among the most affected facilities by water scarcity. This work aims to evaluate the level of students’ hand hygiene, and the quality of municipal (MW) and drinking water (DW) in some schools of Al-Muthanna Province, Iraq.
Methodology: Between October 2021 and June 2022, a total of 324 water samples from 162 schools and 2,430 hand swabs (HSs) from 1,620 students (1,080 males and 540 females) were collected. Some physicochemical standards of water were assessed besides investigating faecal contamination in water and students’ hands using Escherichia coli as an indicator.
Results: All MW samples were faecally contaminated with poor standards of pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids, color, and chlorine. Despite the good physicochemical standards of all DW samples, E. coli was observed in 12% of samples. Hand hygiene levels dropped by 2.5-fold within a few hours after school entry compared to early-morning levels (before school entry). Male students were 1.5- and 1.7-fold more prone to hand contamination than female students either inside or outside school, respectively. An increasing chlorine tolerance by E. coli was observed in water samples with turbidity > 5 NTU and pH > 8.
Conclusions: The students' hand hygiene level decreases within a few hours of entering school, particularly among male students. Residual-free chlorine < 0.5 mg/L with high turbidity and alkalinity in water is insufficient for 100% prevention of E. coli contamination.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-98d29be46f164237a0c3d888ec932df0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1972-2680 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries |
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| series | Journal of Infection in Developing Countries |
| spelling | doaj-art-98d29be46f164237a0c3d888ec932df02025-08-20T03:48:47ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802023-04-01170410.3855/jidc.17264Hand hygiene and water quality assessment in schools of Muthanna province, Southern IraqSaad M Hantoosh0Ministry of Education, General Education Directorate of Al-Muthanna Province, Iraq Introduction: The severe drought and prolonged heat waves in Iraq have adversely affected the water quality supplied to public facilities. Schools are among the most affected facilities by water scarcity. This work aims to evaluate the level of students’ hand hygiene, and the quality of municipal (MW) and drinking water (DW) in some schools of Al-Muthanna Province, Iraq. Methodology: Between October 2021 and June 2022, a total of 324 water samples from 162 schools and 2,430 hand swabs (HSs) from 1,620 students (1,080 males and 540 females) were collected. Some physicochemical standards of water were assessed besides investigating faecal contamination in water and students’ hands using Escherichia coli as an indicator. Results: All MW samples were faecally contaminated with poor standards of pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids, color, and chlorine. Despite the good physicochemical standards of all DW samples, E. coli was observed in 12% of samples. Hand hygiene levels dropped by 2.5-fold within a few hours after school entry compared to early-morning levels (before school entry). Male students were 1.5- and 1.7-fold more prone to hand contamination than female students either inside or outside school, respectively. An increasing chlorine tolerance by E. coli was observed in water samples with turbidity > 5 NTU and pH > 8. Conclusions: The students' hand hygiene level decreases within a few hours of entering school, particularly among male students. Residual-free chlorine < 0.5 mg/L with high turbidity and alkalinity in water is insufficient for 100% prevention of E. coli contamination. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/17264Escherichia colifaecal contaminationdrinking watermunicipal water |
| spellingShingle | Saad M Hantoosh Hand hygiene and water quality assessment in schools of Muthanna province, Southern Iraq Journal of Infection in Developing Countries Escherichia coli faecal contamination drinking water municipal water |
| title | Hand hygiene and water quality assessment in schools of Muthanna province, Southern Iraq |
| title_full | Hand hygiene and water quality assessment in schools of Muthanna province, Southern Iraq |
| title_fullStr | Hand hygiene and water quality assessment in schools of Muthanna province, Southern Iraq |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hand hygiene and water quality assessment in schools of Muthanna province, Southern Iraq |
| title_short | Hand hygiene and water quality assessment in schools of Muthanna province, Southern Iraq |
| title_sort | hand hygiene and water quality assessment in schools of muthanna province southern iraq |
| topic | Escherichia coli faecal contamination drinking water municipal water |
| url | https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/17264 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT saadmhantoosh handhygieneandwaterqualityassessmentinschoolsofmuthannaprovincesoutherniraq |