Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users
to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response
is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual
response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the
browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published
online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed.
Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles.
The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being
wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our
attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not
including references and author details. We will no longer post responses
that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
I was interested to read (Minerva Reviews)that " some of the
bottled (water) samples ...contained 10 times more bacteria than tap
water".
I was even more surprised to read in the original article ( Archives
of Family Medicine Vol 9 No3, March 2000) that 15, out of the 57 samples
in the study,were less pure than tap water, and of these, 14 contained at
least 10 times the bacteria of tap water and SIX contained at least 1000
times - with a bacterial count of up to almost 5000 CFUs/ml.
We advise our travellers to BOIL the local tap water before using it
- or only use bottled water and drinks.
Maybe we should suggest boiling the bottled water as well - even at
home!!
Competing interests:
No competing interests
07 April 2000
Reginald Cooke
Duty Medical Officer,Healthcall/. Travel Medicine Research
Bacteria in Bottled Water?
I was interested to read (Minerva Reviews)that " some of the
bottled (water) samples ...contained 10 times more bacteria than tap
water".
I was even more surprised to read in the original article ( Archives
of Family Medicine Vol 9 No3, March 2000) that 15, out of the 57 samples
in the study,were less pure than tap water, and of these, 14 contained at
least 10 times the bacteria of tap water and SIX contained at least 1000
times - with a bacterial count of up to almost 5000 CFUs/ml.
We advise our travellers to BOIL the local tap water before using it
- or only use bottled water and drinks.
Maybe we should suggest boiling the bottled water as well - even at
home!!
Competing interests: No competing interests