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. 1995 Oct;115(2):299–307. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800058428

A serosurvey of water-borne pathogens amongst canoeists in South Africa.

M B Taylor 1, P J Becker 1, E J Van Rensburg 1, B N Harris 1, I W Bailey 1, W O Grabow 1
PMCID: PMC2271398  PMID: 7589269

Abstract

Certain health risks have been associated with recreational exposure to faecally polluted water. Canoeing in certain South African waters is considered to be a high risk activity with regard to schistosomiasis, gastroenteritis and possibly hepatitis. In a cross-sectional study, a serosurvey was conducted amongst canoeists to ascertain whether or not they had a higher seroprevalence to hepatitis A virus, Norwalk virus and Schistosoma spp. than non-canoeists. In comparisons between the two groups, a significant association could not be demonstrated between canoeing and antibody response to hepatitis A and Norwalk viruses (P-values for age-adjusted chi 2 were 0.083 and 0.219 respectively), but a significant association could be demonstrated between canoeing and the antibody response to Schistosoma spp. (P < 0.001; age-adjusted).

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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