The Problem:
Childhood Diarrhea From Contaminated Water
Viewed as a minor inconvenience in the developed world, diarrhea can be a death sentence in developing countries. Diarrhea can be life threatening as it causes severe dehydration as a result of extensive fluid loss. An estimated 2.0 billion cases of diarrhea occur each year amongst children under five years of age. Of these cases, 1.5 million children die. The major bacterial pathogens that most frequently cause acute childhood diarrhea are E. coli, Shigella, Campylobacter and Salmonella. Currently, existing biosensors for water-borne pathogens are either costly, inaccessible to developing countries, require expensive equipment constrained to a lab setting, difficult to use without training, and not very reliable...More >
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