A scary warning for Istanbul as dams run out of water: Typhoid outbreak!
While the water rate in Istanbul’s dams was measured as 27.81 percent, a frightening warning came from the medical world: Typhoid outbreak is not far away!
As the end of a very dry summer approaches, water alarm continues in Istanbul with a population of 16 million inhabitants. According to ISKI data, the filling rate in the dams has decreased to 27.81 percent as of today.
As such, an important warning has come from the medical world regarding the risk of epidemic diseases that water shortage may bring in terms of public health in the future.
“DIMINISHING WATER CAN BE MUCH MORE EASILY CONTAMINATED”
Speaking to İhlas News Agency, Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Specialist Prof. Dr. Dilek Arman stated that the decreasing water in times of drought can be much more easily contaminated, and that effective cleaning and spraying conditions may not be provided due to the decrease in water.
Stating that the decrease in water causes an increase in intermediary animals called “vectors”, Prof. Dr. Arman said, “Of course, apart from the decrease in the water in the dam, the decrease in the distributed water, water cuts will affect our daily life very negatively. Clean water is a very important point. It is extremely important that both drinking water and domestic water are sufficient. Hygiene and sanitation (public health conditions related to clean drinking water, adequate treatment and disposal of wastewater and sewage) conditions must be ensured. Water is necessary for this. We need to be able to eat clean food, and clean water is necessary for this.”
HYGIENE WARNING
Stating that the reduction of all these resources could pose a significant problem, Arman said: “On the other hand, especially when water cuts start to occur, this is a problem of the past, but I know that there are still places in Turkey where metal pipes are still used. Especially with the negative pressure that may occur after very important interruptions in the metal pipe, a situation such as the microbes that can cause disease in the soil can be drawn into the water, which can increase the risks even more. We need to pay close attention to all the hygiene conditions we always say. If we think it is not clean, it is absolutely necessary to boil the water and drink it. Apart from that, of course, body and hand hygiene and hand hygiene must be ensured. This can be done with clean, chlorinated water.”
TYPHOID MAY RETURN AGAIN
Stating that clean water resources are of great importance for humanity and that studies should be carried out meticulously against situations that may occur, Prof. Dr. Arman continued his words as follows “For a very long time, we have not seen diseases such as typhoid in undeveloped countries, but in time, we may even see them again, especially if water scarcity, especially sewage, pollutes clean water. At the moment, extreme heat can cause food to spoil more easily, microorganisms to multiply more easily, and perhaps contribute to contamination and an increase in intestinal infections in areas where there is limited access to water. Let’s not run the water unless necessary, turn it off while brushing our teeth, turn it off while scrubbing our hands, and turn it back on when we stop. Protecting the tiny drops will be very valuable both for us and for our future.”
A scary warning for Istanbul as dams run out of water: Typhoid outbreak!
