What should a general practiotioner know about drinking water? Part II: Health risks associated with water
Abstract
The second part of our series on drinking water issues is focused on related health risks. General practitioner is alerted to the diseases of infectious or toxic origin which may occur in the Czech Republic in relation to drinking water exposure or which may be manifested in a patient after returning from an exotic destination.
Information on possible chronic consequences of such exposure is also provided, although these are relatively rare and it is possible to prove it only on a population level using special analytical epidemiological methods. Causal association on an individual level cannot be usually proved in common practice, nevertheless GPs should be able to respond adequately to patient's questions on the level of such risks, because the media often exaggerates the risk