Quantitative microbial risk assessment for drinking water-associated population

The risk assessment method is used to study the probability of adverse public health outcomes when using contaminated drinking water, with acute intestinal infections representing a predominant concern. A quantitative microbial risk assessment is a mathematical system designed to calculate the probability of the development of the infectious diseases caused by the pathogenic microorganisms present in drinking water. The microbial risk assessment method integrates epidemiological and sanitary-hygienic monitoring data to calculate the risk of water-associated diseases. This method aims to identify and mitigate the risk of the waterborne outbreaks of infectious diseases and reducing the prevalence sporadic (background) infections caused by water-transmitted pathogens. As a result of the aforementioned method and the availability of online calculators, researchers now can utilize a tool for calculating the probability and risk of occurrence of infectious diseases when using low microbial quality drinking water. This review presents the stages of the microbial risk quantitative assessment with a description of the calculation methods, describes the sources of the data necessary to assess the risk, presents the formulas for calculating the probability depending on the type of infectious pathogen, and provides the links to online calculators allowing for quick calculations

Environmental health · Outbreak · Population · Public health · Risk assessment · Waterborne diseases · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Computer Science · Environmental Science · Fecal contamination and water quality · Medicine · Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology · Virology