Question

When children play barefoot in pools of dirty water and flood water, they are vulnerable to

• A. leptospirosis and bilharzia
• B. malaria, amoebic dysentery and leptospirosis
• C. bilharzia, infective hepatitis and diarrhoea
• D. Guinea worm infection, elephantiasis and amoebic dysentery

Answer 1

The correct option is A leptospirosis and bilharzia

Bilharzia is also known as 'snail fever', it is caused by a parasitic flatworm. It is transmitted by fecal matter or urine of affected person, it contains the eggs of the flatworm.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals. It is caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira.
Transmission occurs through contact of the skin and mucous membranes with water, damp soil or vegetation (such as sugarcane) or mud contaminated with rodent urine.

Therefore a child playing in dirty or flooded water may contract any one of these diseases.