2005-2-13
I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Development Report.
A few years ago, researchers discovered a simple answer to a big
problem. They found that the bacteria that causes cholera can be
removed from drinking water with simple cloth filters. Pouring water
from rivers or lakes through several thicknesses of cloth can trap
tiny organisms like the cholera bacteria.
A three-year study took place in Bangladesh. American and
Bangladeshi scientists went to sixty-five small villages in a
country where cholera is a major health problem. They tested the use
of saris as cloth filters. A sari is the traditional clothing worn
by most women in Bangladesh.
People in one group of villages used cloth from old saris, folded
eight times, as a filter for their drinking water. People in another
group of villages used modern nylon filters for their water. People
in the other villages continued to gather water in traditional ways,
without using filters. About forty-four thousand people were studied
in each of the three groups of villages.
Rita Colwell from the University of Maryland at College Park
helped lead the study. She said the people in the villages using
filters from old saris had the lowest number of cases of cholera.
The researchers also found that almost ninety-nine percent of
cholera bacteria could be filtered out with the sari cloth. Rita
Colwell said cloth from old saris worked best because it has been
washed repeatedly. She said the space between the threads of the
material narrows when the cloth is washed, so it traps smaller
particles.
Cholera is an intestinal infection that can develop in the body
in less than five days. It can quickly lead to severe loss of fluids
through diarrhea and vomiting. Cholera can cause death if treatment
is not given quickly. Children under age five are most at risk.
People get the disease by drinking water or eating food that
contains the bacteria. The disease is most often found in areas
where there is unclean water and poor systems for treating human
waste.
The most recent yearly report on cholera on the Web site of the
World Health Organization is for two thousand two. That year,
fifty-two countries reported a total of one hundred forty-two
thousand cases. These infections resulted in more than four thousand
five hundred deaths.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill
Moss. I'm Gwen Outen.