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Articles in Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and the immunocompromised - 20% of the US population - are at the greatest risk for serious illness and mortality from waterborne pathogens.
When drinking water is turbid but still meets standards, hospital visits for GI illness among the elderly, children and those with compromised immune systems.
Schwartz J, Levin R, Goldstein R. 2000. Drinking water turbidity and gastrointestinal illness in the elderly of Philadelphia. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 54:45-51.In a 1993 waterborne disease outbreak due to contamination of the City's water supply, for one year prior, increases in doctor's visits due to GI illnesses were twice as high for children as for adults.
Morris RD, Naumova EN, Levin R, Munashinghe RL. 1996. Temporal variation in drinking water turbidity and diagnosed gastroenteritis in Milwaukee. American Journal of Public Health 86:237-239.