Wilkerson, an emergency room physician in 1992 quote, was presumably citing available research, much as Dr. Rockwell has accomplished in a far more comprehensive and up-to-date manner.

Presently, there are at least a half-dozen EASILY AVAILABLE and statistically reliable investigations that are directly relevant to back country drinking water.

There are other studies that are statistically less reliable, and many, many others that place this research in a much larger context of drinking water safety.

Familiarity with a number of these studies is the barest threshold for the most minimally informed opinion on back country water safety.

I would suggest starting with the meta analysis of many previous studies by Timothy E. Welch. It's called "Risk of giardiasis from consumption of wilderness water in North America: a systematic review of epidemiologic data" Reading this analysis will expose you to ALL of the most reliable research as of a few years ago, because it statistically analyzes various existing studies.

Among Robert Derlet's persistent and long-term field work on topic is "High Sierra Water: What is in the H20?" See also other works by Derlet.

If you are particularly interested in various disease other than giardiasis, see "Campylobacter enteritis from untreated water in the Rocky Mountains" by Taylor, McDermott, Little, et al.

S.C. Zell, Sorenson et al. showed how a notorious outbreak of back-country disease proved to be utterly misleading non-sequiter. "Cyst acquisition rate for Giardia lamblia in backcountry travelers to Desolation Wilderness, Lake Tahoe"


Gardiner & Hill found no correlation of water treatment and avoidance of intestinal disease among long-distance hikers in Vermont: "Illness and injury among long-distance hikers on the Long Trail, Vermont"

There are at least several others that I am missing and some are very significant.

Try googling those few titles for a start if you want to be informed.

Or just read Rockwell's summary. It gives a very reliable overview.

If you can't handle this stuff, then you may as well say that you got sick because your neighbor is a witch.