Question

When children play bare-footed in pools of dirty water and flood water, they may suffer from

• A. Leptospirosis and bilharzia
• B. Malaria, amoebic dysentery and leptospirosis
• C. Bilharzia, infective hepatitis and diarrhoea
• D. Guineaworm infection, elephantiasis and amoebic dysentery

Answer 1

The correct option is A Leptospirosis and bilharzia

When children play barefoot in pools of dirty water and flood water, they may suffer from Leptospirosis and bilharzia.

• Leptospirosis occurs due to a bacteria of the genus Leptospira and can occur through direct contact with urine from infected animals or through water, soil or food contaminated with their urine, this can happen on swimming or wading in fresh unchlorinated water contaminated with animal urine or by coming into contact with wet soil or plants contaminated with animal urine.
• Bilharzia is caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes and is transmitted by snails that carry the parasite. It occurs when ponds, streams and irrigation canals harbour bilharzia-transmitting snails, where the parasites may penetrate the human skin to enter the bloodstream and migrate to the liver, intestines and other organs.

So, the correct option is 'Leptospirosis and bilharzia'.