Fighting Invisible Enemies: How New Tech is Helping Us Detect Waterborne Pathogens Faster

Chìa Vôi Vàng

27-03-2025 

“– When it is a matter of life and death, to survive, one must be intelligent.”

In “Luck”; Wild Wise Weird [1]

Waterborne diseases continue to pose a major global health threat, with unsafe drinking water responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths annually—most notably among children under five [2,3]. Traditional methods for detecting pathogens in water, such as culture-based or lab-intensive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques, are slow, expensive, and require centralized laboratory infrastructure. These limitations hinder timely responses to contamination and public health risks.

Recent advancements in point-of-care (POC) diagnostics and molecular techniques are transforming how we monitor and respond to water pollution. These technologies allow for rapid, on-site detection of pathogens, enabling faster public health interventions and more effective water management [4].

One of the most promising innovations is loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) [5]. This technique can amplify DNA at a constant temperature, making it faster and more energy-efficient than traditional PCR methods. It can deliver accurate results in less than an hour, requires minimal equipment, and tolerates sample contaminants better than other methods. Because of its simplicity and reliability, LAMP is particularly suitable for remote or resource-limited settings [4].

LAMP has proven effective in detecting a wide range of waterborne pathogens—including E. coli, Salmonella, Norovirus, and protozoa such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Moreover, it can be adapted to identify fecal indicator bacteria like Bacteroides, which help trace the source of contamination, such as human sewage, providing crucial information for targeted public health action [4].

As climate change, urbanization, and aging infrastructure exacerbate water quality issues worldwide, deploying rapid and decentralized testing methods like LAMP will be essential. These tools represent a powerful shift from reactive to proactive water safety management—empowering communities to develop Nature Quotient, detect threats early, and protect public health more effectively [6,7].

References

[1] Vuong QH. (2024). Wild Wise Weird. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG2NNHY6/

[2] WHO Team. (2022). Guidelines for drinking-water quality: fourth edition incorporating the first and second addenda. WHO. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240045064 

[3] Wolf J, et al. (2022). Effectiveness of interventions to improve drinking water, sanitation, and handwashing with soap on risk of diarrhoeal disease in children in low-income and middle-income settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet, 400(10345), 48-59. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)00937-0/fulltext 

[4] Khodaparast M, et al. (2024). Advances in point-of-care and molecular techniques to detect waterborne pathogens. npj Clean Water, 7, 74. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-024-00368-9 

[5] Notomi T, et al. (2000). Loop-mediated isothermal amplification of DNA. Nucleic Acids Research, 28(12), e63. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/28.12.e63 

[6] Nguyen MH. (2024). How can satirical fables offer us a vision for sustainability? Visions for Sustainability. https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/visions/article/view/11267