If you’re flying to Beijing for the Olympics …

Make sure you sample the barreled water

In China’s southwestern province of Guizhou, polluted barreled water has made more than 200 ill. The victims feel ill with hepatitis A.

“The source of the water was heavily polluted and its production lacked strict sterilization,” according to Beijing News. News Report

According to a report, about half the water used in coolers in the Olympics host city could be tainted.

Hep A: An acute infectious disease of the liver

Hepatitis A, (formerly known as infectious hepatitis), is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by Hepatitis A virus, which is most commonly transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated food or drinking water. Every year, approximately 10 million people worldwide are infected with the virus. The time between infection and the appearance of the symptoms, (the incubation period), is between two and six weeks and the average incubation period is 28 days.

Electron micrograph of hepatitis A virions. Source: CDC

In developing countries, and in regions with poor hygiene standards, the incidence of infection with this virus approaches 100% and the illness is usually contracted in early childhood. Hepatitis A infection causes no clinical signs and symptoms in over 90% of these children and since the infection confers lifelong immunity, the disease is of no special significance to the indigenous population. In Europe, the United States and other industrialised countries, on the other hand, the infection is contracted primarily by susceptible young adults, most of whom are infected with the virus during trips to countries with a high incidence of the disease. (Source: Wikipedia)