AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE POSSIBLE LINKS BETWEEN SHIGELLOSIS AND HEPATITIS-A AND PUBLIC WATER-SUPPLY DISCONNECTIONS

A retrospective study was conducted to determine if water supply disco nnection could be implicated as a causative factor in the incidence of laboratory confirmed cases of shigellosis and hepatitis A in the Hull area. Data on all disconnections and cases of shigellosis and hepatit is A, between April 1988 and March 1993, were obtained. Over the perio d of the study, 908 disconnections took place, there were 1591 cases o f shigellosis and 1034 cases of hepatitis A. Whilst there was a statis tical correlation between rates of both disease outcomes and rates of disconnection in the 20 Hull postcode areas, a detailed examination of the two data sets failed to identify a causative relationship between disconnection and either illness in any household. A correlation anal ysis examining for statistical association between sociodemographic fa ctors and illness indicated the importance of the general living stand ards and the elevated susceptibility of the poor and economically disa dvantaged to these two diseases.