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Boil Your Water, Doctor Tells 'Hello VOA'


Dr. Lor Kim Song, a tropical disease specialist in Paris, told 'Hello VOA' listeners Thursday the best way to prevent water-borne diseases was to boil water. Period.

Many of those diseases are easily prevented through the simple act of boiling water, Lor Kim Song said, though callers asked if it was possible to find another solution.

Chemical treatments were expensive compared to boiling, the doctor said, citing bacteria that cause cholera, parasites that cause dysentery and viruses that cause other illnesses as reasons to boil.

One caller asked how healthy coffee was. The doctor said that as a stimulant coffee can be habit forming. But three cups a day fine.

A woman from Kampong Cham asked if fountain water in Phnom Penh was dangerous. Lor Kim Song said the fountain should have chlorine in it and was therefore safe.

A final caller, from Siem Reap, asked why IVs are given to small children. Children with diarrhea can lose a lot of water, the doctor said, and a dehydrated child can die quickly.

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