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Chac D, Slater DM, Guillaume Y, Dunmire CN, Ternier R, Vissières K, Juin S, Lucien MAB, Boncy J, Sanchez VM, Dumayas MG, Augustin GC, Bhuiyan TR, Qadri F, Chowdhury F, Khan AI, Weil AA, Ivers LC, Harris JB. Association between chlorine-treated drinking water, the gut microbiome, and enteric pathogen burden in young children in Haiti: an observational study. Int J Infect Dis 2024:107165. [PMID: 38977240 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2024] [Revised: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The effects of sanitation and hygiene interventions on the gut microbiome and enteric pathogen burden are not well understood. We measured the association between free chlorine residue (FCR) levels in drinking water, microbiome composition, and stool enteric pathogens in infants and young children in Haiti. METHODS FCR levels were measured in household drinking water and enteric pathogen burden was evaluated using multiplex RT-PCR of stool among 131 children from one month to five years of age living in Mirebalais, Haiti. Microbiome profiling was performed using metagenomic sequencing. RESULTS Most individuals lived in households with undetectable FCR measured in the drinking water (112/131, 86%). Detection of enteric pathogen DNA in stool was common and did not correlate with household water FCR. The infant microbiome in households with detectable FCR demonstrated reduced richness (fewer total number of species, P=0.04 Kruskall-Wallis test) and less diversity by Inverse Simpson measures (P=0.05) than households with undetectable FCR. Infants in households with a detectable FCR were more likely to have abundant Bifidobacterium. Using in vitro susceptibility testing, we found that some Bifidobacterium species were resistant to chlorine. CONCLUSIONS FCR in household drinking water did not correlate with enteric pathogen burden in our study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise Chac
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Damien M Slater
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Yodeline Guillaume
- Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
| | | | - Ralph Ternier
- Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante, Croix des Bouquets, Haiti.
| | - Kenia Vissières
- Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante, Croix des Bouquets, Haiti.
| | - Stanley Juin
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
| | | | - Jacques Boncy
- National Laboratory of Public Health, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
| | - Vanessa M Sanchez
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Mia G Dumayas
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | | | - Taufiqur R Bhuiyan
- Vaccine Sciences, International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
| | - Firdausi Qadri
- Vaccine Sciences, International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
| | - Fahima Chowdhury
- Vaccine Sciences, International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
| | - Ashraful I Khan
- Vaccine Sciences, International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
| | - Ana A Weil
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Louise C Ivers
- Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Jason B Harris
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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MacLeod C, Ngabirano L, N'Diaye DS, Braun L, Cumming O. Household-level water, sanitation and hygiene factors and interventions and the prevention of relapse after severe acute malnutrition recovery: A systematic review. MATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION 2024; 20:e13634. [PMID: 38372439 PMCID: PMC11168358 DOI: 10.1111/mcn.13634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is the most serious form of acute malnutrition and is associated with high mortality risk among children under 5. While the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) approach, recommended for treating cases of uncomplicated SAM, has increased treatment coverage and recovery outcomes, high relapse rates have been reported. Several risk factors for SAM relapse, such as insufficient food intake and high infectious disease burden in the community, have been identified. However, the role of household water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions remains unclear. This systematic review: (1) assesses the effectiveness of WASH interventions on preventing SAM relapse and (2) identifies WASH-related conditions associated with relapse to SAM among children aged 6-59 months discharged as recovered following SAM CMAM treatment. We performed electronic searches of six databases to identify relevant studies published between 1 January 2000 and 6 November 2023 and assessed their quality. After deduplication, 10,294 documents were screened by title and abstract, with 13 retrieved for full-text screening. We included three studies ranging from low- to medium-quality. One intervention study found that providing a WASH kit during SAM outpatient treatment did not reduce the risk of relapse to SAM. Two observational studies found inconsistent associations between household WASH conditions-unimproved sanitation and unsafe drinking water-and SAM relapse. Despite the paucity of evidence, the hypothesised causal pathways between WASH conditions and the risk of relapse remain plausible. Further evidence is needed to identify interventions for an integrated postdischarge approach to prevent relapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara MacLeod
- Department of Disease ControlLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineLondonUnited Kingdom
| | | | | | - Laura Braun
- Department of Disease ControlLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Oliver Cumming
- Department of Disease ControlLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineLondonUnited Kingdom
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3
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Choudhary N, Brewis A, Schuster RC, Wutich A. Beyond WASH: Testing Additional Connections Between Household Water Insecurity and Child Nutrition Outcomes in Multi-Country Contexts. Ecol Food Nutr 2024; 63:435-468. [PMID: 38889358 DOI: 10.1080/03670244.2024.2366913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2024]
Abstract
This study identifies multiple pathways connecting household water insecurity with child nutrition. Using nationally representative samples for 18 countries, we examine the mediating role of child's dietary diversity as a function of household water status, while also accounting for sanitation. We construct a latent household water insecurity score (HWI) and use Structural Equation approach to model underlying pathways. HWI affected child's HAZ score and hemoglobin both directly and indirectly, with a mediation from child feeding alongside effects from sanitation. Broadening the conception of household water insecurity and accommodating the indirect effects of water could improve explanations of child under-nutrition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neetu Choudhary
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe
| | - Alexandra Brewis
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe
| | - Roseanne C Schuster
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe
| | - Amber Wutich
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe
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Cha S, Jung S, Abera T, Beyene ET, Schmidt WP, Ross I, Jin Y, Bizuneh DB. Performance of Pit Latrines and Their Herd Protection Against Diarrhea: A Longitudinal Cohort Study in Rural Ethiopia. GLOBAL HEALTH, SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2024; 12:e2200541. [PMID: 38834532 PMCID: PMC11216697 DOI: 10.9745/ghsp-d-22-00541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024]
Abstract
In sanitation policies, "improved sanitation" is often broadly described as a goal with little rationale for the minimum standard required. We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected as part of a cluster randomized controlled trial in rural Ethiopia. We compared the performance of well-constructed and poorly constructed pit latrines in reducing child diarrhea. In addition, we explored whether having a well-constructed household latrine provides indirect protection to neighbors if cluster-level coverage reaches a certain threshold. We followed up children aged younger than 5 years (U5C) of 906 households in rural areas of the Gurage zone, Ethiopia, for 10 months after community-led total sanitation interventions. A study-improved latrine was defined as having all the following: pit of ≥2 m depth, slab of any material, drop-hole cover, wall, roof, door, and handwashing facilities (water and soap observed). U5C in households with a study-improved latrine had 54% lower odds of contracting diarrhea than those living in households with a latrine missing 1 or more of the characteristics (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.27, 0.81; P=.006). Analyses were adjusted for child age and sex, presence of improved water for drinking, and self-reported handwashing at 4 critical times. The odds of having diarrhea among those with an improved latrine based on the World Health Organization/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) definition (i.e., pit latrines with slabs) were not substantially different from those with a JMP-unimproved latrine (aOR=0.99; 95% CI=0.56, 1.79; P=.99). Of U5C living in households without a latrine or with a study-unimproved latrine, those in the high-coverage villages were less likely to contract diarrhea than those in low-coverage villages (aOR=0.55; 95% CI=0.35, 0.86; P=.008). We recommend that academic studies and routine program monitoring and evaluation should measure more latrine characteristics and evaluate multiple latrine categories instead of making binary comparisons only.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seungman Cha
- Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Disease, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
- Department of Global Development and Entrepreneurship, Graduate School of Global Development and Entrepreneurship, Handong Global University, Pohang, South Korea
| | - Sunghoon Jung
- Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Disease, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Ermias Tadesse Beyene
- Department of Human Ecology and Technology, Graduate School of Advanced Convergence, Handong Global University, Pohang, South Korea
| | - Wolf-Peter Schmidt
- Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Disease, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ian Ross
- Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Disease, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yan Jin
- Department of Microbiology, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea
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Bandoh DA, Dwomoh D, Yirenya-Tawiah D, Kenu E, Dzodzomenyo M. Prevalence and correlates of diarrhoea among children under five in selected coastal communities in Ghana. JOURNAL OF HEALTH, POPULATION, AND NUTRITION 2024; 43:95. [PMID: 38926857 PMCID: PMC11210189 DOI: 10.1186/s41043-024-00582-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Diarrhoea is a preventable disease affecting children under five years disproportionately. Globally, thousands of children die from diarrhoea related diseases each year, most deaths occuring in sub-Saharan Africa where Ghana is located. Coastal communities bear the greatest brunt due to poor sanitary conditions. We assess the prevalence of diarrhoea in selected coastal communities along the eastern coast of Ghana. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study in Mumford, Opetekwei, Anyako, Anyauni and Ateteti communities in the Central, Greater Accra and Volta region respectively. We interviewed households with children under five years on the occurrence of diarrhoea and health seeking practices. We also used a checklist to assess the sanitary conditions of the household. Frequencies and proportions were generated. We determined significant differences using modified Poisson regression models at p < 0.05. Results were presented in tables and text. RESULTS The prevalence ratio of diarrhoea was 36% (95% CI 33-40%). Most cases were from Anyako community. All interviewed households in Mumford and Opetekwei used improved water sources whiles 94% in Atetetio used improved water sources. Children who were fully vaccinated had 32% lower prevalence of diarrhoea compared to those who were not (aPR: 0.68, 95% CI 0.55-0.84). CONCLUSION Diarrhoea prevalence was high inspite of the reported use of improved water sources and sanitation facilities by majority of households in the communities. Fully vaccinated children had a relatively lower prevalence of diarrhoea compared to children who were not fully vaccinated. We recommend in-depth analysis of the use of water and sanitation facilities in these settings to understand the reasons for the observed diarrhoea prevalence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Duah Dwomoh
- School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
| | | | - Ernest Kenu
- School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
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6
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Ijaiya MA, Anjorin S, Uthman OA. Navigating the nutritional paradox: The impact of sustainable development targets on childhood wasting and overweight prevalence. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2024; 4:e0003335. [PMID: 38905320 PMCID: PMC11192342 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024]
Abstract
In 2015, the United Nations member states endorsed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to chart a path towards a better future for all. Childhood malnutrition, particularly wasting, remains a critical global health challenge, disproportionately affecting children under five in low- and middle-income countries. This study evaluates the impact of achieving selected Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets on reducing childhood malnutrition, with a specific focus on wasting and overweight. Utilizing multi-country DHS datasets, this study analyzed data from 138,782 children under five across 27 countries, nested within 13,788 neighborhoods. We simulated the predicted prevalence of wasting and overweight as selected SDG-related health inputs and determinant indicators reached their target values. Our findings reveal a baseline prevalence of 6.3% for wasting and 4.3% for overweight among the children studied. Progress towards the SDGs can potentially decrease wasting prevalence by a quarter (25%), translating to a reduction from 6.3% to 4.7%. This significant reduction in wasting is more pronounced in rural areas (29%) than in urban settings (7%). Conversely, a 14% increase in overweight prevalence was observed, with rural areas experiencing a higher rise (15%) than urban areas (13%). The study also highlighted variations in access to safe sanitation, improved water sources, healthcare services, income, maternal employment, and education levels, underscoring the complex interplay between these factors and malnutrition outcomes. Notably, the reduction in wasting prevalence was mainly attributable to input determinants rather than direct health inputs, suggesting the importance of broader socioeconomic factors in combating malnutrition. Achieving SDG targets presents a significant opportunity to mitigate wasting, particularly in rural communities. However, the uneven distribution of improvements underscores the need for targeted interventions in less affected areas. The concurrent rise in overweight prevalence, points to the emerging challenge of addressing the dual burden of malnutrition. This necessitates integrated, multi-sectoral strategies considering the diverse health determinants and nutritional status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mukhtar A. Ijaiya
- Data-Lead Africa, Central Business District, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
| | - Seun Anjorin
- Big Data Institute, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Olalekan A. Uthman
- Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Centre for Global Health, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
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7
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Swarthout J, Mureithi M, Mboya J, Arnold BF, Wolfe MK, Dentz HN, Lin A, Arnold CD, Rao G, Stewart CP, Clasen T, Colford JM, Null C, Pickering AJ. Addressing Fecal Contamination in Rural Kenyan Households: The Roles of Environmental Interventions and Animal Ownership. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:9500-9514. [PMID: 38760010 PMCID: PMC11155254 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c09419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2023] [Revised: 04/17/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Abstract
Combined water, sanitation, and handwashing (WSH) interventions could reduce fecal contamination along more transmission pathways than single interventions alone. We measured Escherichia coli levels in 3909 drinking water samples, 2691 child hand rinses, and 2422 toy ball rinses collected from households enrolled in a 2-year cluster-randomized controlled trial evaluating single and combined WSH interventions. Water treatment with chlorine reduced E. coli in drinking water. A combined WSH intervention improved water quality by the same magnitude but did not affect E. coli levels on hands or toys. One potential explanation for the limited impact of the sanitation intervention (upgraded latrines) is failure to address dog and livestock fecal contamination. Small ruminant (goat or sheep) ownership was associated with increased E. coli levels in stored water and on child hands. Cattle and poultry ownership was protective against child stunting, and domesticated animal ownership was not associated with child diarrhea. Our findings do not support restricting household animal ownership to prevent child diarrheal disease or stunting but do support calls for WSH infrastructure that can more effectively reduce household fecal contamination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna
M. Swarthout
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | | | - John Mboya
- Innovations
for Poverty Action, Nairobi 00200, Kenya
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Benjamin F. Arnold
- Francis
I. Proctor Foundation, Department of Ophthalmology and Institute for
Global Health Sciences, University of California,
San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
| | - Marlene K. Wolfe
- Gangarosa
Department of Environmental Health, Emory
University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States
| | - Holly N. Dentz
- Institute
for Global Nutrition, University of California,
Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Audrie Lin
- Department
of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States
| | - Charles D. Arnold
- Institute
for Global Nutrition, University of California,
Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Gouthami Rao
- Department
of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Christine P. Stewart
- Institute
for Global Nutrition, University of California,
Davis, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Thomas Clasen
- Gangarosa
Department of Environmental Health, Emory
University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States
| | - John M. Colford
- School
of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Clair Null
- Mathematica, Washington, District of
Columbia 20002, United States
| | - Amy J. Pickering
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Chan
Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
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Crocker J, Ogutu EA, Snyder J, Freeman MC. The state of reporting context and implementation in peer-reviewed evaluations of water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions: A scoping review. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2024; 259:114363. [PMID: 38604106 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2024.114363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION To accurately assess evidence from environmental and public health field trials, context and implementation details of the intervention must be weighed with trial results; yet these details are under and inconsistently reported for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), limiting the external validity of the evidence. METHODS To quantify the level of reporting of context and implementation in WASH evaluations, we conducted a scoping review of the 40 most cited evaluations of WASH interventions published in the last 10 years (2012-2022). We applied criteria derived from a review of existing reporting guidance from other sectors including healthcare and implementation science. We subsequently reviewed main articles, supplements, protocols, and other associated resources to assess thoroughness of context and implementation reporting. RESULTS Of the final 25 reporting items we searched for, four-intervention name, approach, location, and temporality-were reported by all studies. Five items-theory, implementer qualifications, dose intensity, targeting, and measured fidelity-were not reported in over a third of reviewed articles. Only two studies (5%) reported all items in our checklist. Only 74% of items were found in the main article, while the rest were found in separate papers (7%) or not at all (19%). DISCUSSION Inconsistent reporting of WASH implementation illustrates a major challenge in the sector. It is difficult to know what interventions are actually being evaluated and how to compare evaluation results. This inconsistent and incomplete implementation reporting limits the ability of programmers and policy makers to apply the available evidence to their contexts. Standardized reporting guidelines would improve the application of the evidence for WASH field evaluations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonny Crocker
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
| | - Emily A Ogutu
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Jedidiah Snyder
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Matthew C Freeman
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Lewnard JA, Charani E, Gleason A, Hsu LY, Khan WA, Karkey A, Chandler CIR, Mashe T, Khan EA, Bulabula ANH, Donado-Godoy P, Laxminarayan R. Burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in low-income and middle-income countries avertible by existing interventions: an evidence review and modelling analysis. Lancet 2024; 403:2439-2454. [PMID: 38797180 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(24)00862-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 02/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
National action plans enumerate many interventions as potential strategies to reduce the burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, knowledge of the benefits achievable by specific approaches is needed to inform policy making, especially in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) with substantial AMR burden and low health-care system capacity. In a modelling analysis, we estimated that improving infection prevention and control programmes in LMIC health-care settings could prevent at least 337 000 (95% CI 250 200-465 200) AMR-associated deaths annually. Ensuring universal access to high-quality water, sanitation, and hygiene services would prevent 247 800 (160 000-337 800) AMR-associated deaths and paediatric vaccines 181 500 (153 400-206 800) AMR-associated deaths, from both direct prevention of resistant infections and reductions in antibiotic consumption. These estimates translate to prevention of 7·8% (5·6-11·0) of all AMR-associated mortality in LMICs by infection prevention and control, 5·7% (3·7-8·0) by water, sanitation, and hygiene, and 4·2% (3·4-5·1) by vaccination interventions. Despite the continuing need for research and innovation to overcome limitations of existing approaches, our findings indicate that reducing global AMR burden by 10% by the year 2030 is achievable with existing interventions. Our results should guide investments in public health interventions with the greatest potential to reduce AMR burden.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph A Lewnard
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Esmita Charani
- Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine, Department of Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Alec Gleason
- One Health Trust, Bengaluru, India; High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Li Yang Hsu
- Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Wasif Ali Khan
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Abhilasha Karkey
- Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal
| | - Clare I R Chandler
- Department of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK; Antimicrobial Resistance Centre, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Tapfumanei Mashe
- One Health Office, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Harare, Zimbabwe; Health System Strengthening Unit, WHO, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Ejaz Ahmed Khan
- Department of Pediatrics, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Andre N H Bulabula
- Division of Disease Control and Prevention, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Pilar Donado-Godoy
- AMR Global Health Research Unit, Colombian Integrated Program of Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance, Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria, Cundinamarca, Colombia
| | - Ramanan Laxminarayan
- One Health Trust, Bengaluru, India; High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
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Legge H, Kazungo K, Muli S, Elson L, Mwongeli J, Halliday KE, Ochwal V, Oswald W, Dreibelbis R, Njomo D, Mwandawiro C, Fillinger U, Pullan R, Kepha S. Identifying Potential Determinants of Faecal Contamination on Domestic Floors in Three Settings in Rural Kenya: A Mixed Methods Analysis. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INSIGHTS 2024; 18:11786302241246454. [PMID: 38737960 PMCID: PMC11088304 DOI: 10.1177/11786302241246454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
Observational evidence suggests that household floors may be an important domain for the transmission of enteric and parasitic infections. However, little work has been done to investigate how household floors can become contaminated with human and animal faeces. This study uses a mixed methods approach to postulate the proximal and distal determinants of household floor contamination with faeces in groups of rural villages in 3 counties in Kenya (Bungoma, Kwale and Narok). Quantitative data was collected through a household census and analysed descriptively and using mixed effects logistic regression models. Qualitative data was collected through unstructured observations of daily routines and in-depth interviews. These data were analysed thematically with case memos produced for routine activities that were hypothesised to be determinants of floor contamination. Possible proximal determinants of floor contamination included; (1) animal contact with floors; (2) child faeces disposal, and; (3) floor cleaning routines. Distal determinants are suggested to be rooted in the socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural context in which households were located and included; (1) the type and number of animals owned by households; (2) presence/absence of dedicated shelters for housing animals at night, which impacted whether sleeping or cooking areas were exposed to animals; (3) Accessibility of inside spaces to poultry and other roaming animals; (4) ownership of an improved floor; (5) ability of animals to access neighbours compounds; (6) seasonal changes in weather. These results will be of use in identifying the contexts in which faecal contamination of domestic floors may be contributing towards transmission of enteric and parasitic infections and in designing effective interventions to prevent this exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Legge
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK
| | - Karisa Kazungo
- International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Sharon Muli
- International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Lynne Elson
- KEMRI-Wellcome Trust, Nairobi, Kenya
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, UK
| | - Jacinta Mwongeli
- Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | - Victoria Ochwal
- International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - William Oswald
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK
- Global Health Division, International Development Group, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | | | - Doris Njomo
- Eastern and Southern Africa Centre of International Parasite Control, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Charles Mwandawiro
- Eastern and Southern Africa Centre of International Parasite Control, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Ulrike Fillinger
- International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | - Stella Kepha
- Eastern and Southern Africa Centre of International Parasite Control, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
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Laauwen M, Nowicki S. Reinforcing Feedbacks for Sustainable Implementation of Rural Drinking-Water Treatment Technology. ACS ES&T WATER 2024; 4:1763-1774. [PMID: 38633363 PMCID: PMC11019543 DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.3c00779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Progress toward universal access to safe drinking water depends on rural water service delivery models that incorporate water safety management. Water supplies of all types have high rates of fecal contamination unless water safety risks are actively managed through water source protection, treatment, distribution, and storage. Recognizing the role of treatment within this broader risk-based framework, this study focuses on the implementation of passive chlorination and ultraviolet (UV) disinfection technologies in rural settings. These technologies can reduce the health risk from microbiological contaminants in drinking water; however, technology-focused treatment interventions have had limited sustainability in rural settings. This study examines the requirements for sustainable implementation of rural water treatment through qualitative content analysis of 26 key informant interviews, representing passive chlorination and UV disinfection projects in rural areas in South America, Africa, and Asia. The analysis is aligned with the RE-AIM framework and delivers insight into 18 principal enablers and barriers to rural water treatment sustainability. Analysis of the interrelationships among these factors identifies leverage points and encourages fit-for-purpose intervention design reinforced by collaboration between facilitating actors through hybrid service delivery models. Further work should prioritize health impact evidence, water quality reporting guidance, and technological capabilities that optimize trade-offs in fit-for-purpose treatment design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merel Laauwen
- School
of Geography and the Environment, University
of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, U.K.
| | - Saskia Nowicki
- School
of Geography and the Environment, University
of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, U.K.
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12
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Carlton EJ. Invited Perspective: Climate Changes the Effectiveness of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Interventions. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2024; 132:41301. [PMID: 38602831 PMCID: PMC11008708 DOI: 10.1289/ehp14771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth J. Carlton
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz, Aurora, Colorado, USA
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13
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Braun L, MacDougall A, Sumner T, Adriano Z, Viegas E, Nalá R, Brown J, Knee J, Cumming O. Associations between Shared Sanitation, Stunting and Diarrhoea in Low-Income, High Density Urban Neighbourhoods of Maputo, Mozambique - a Cross-Sectional Study. Matern Child Health J 2024; 28:775-784. [PMID: 38427278 DOI: 10.1007/s10995-024-03924-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Shared sanitation facilities are used by over 500 million people around the world. Most research evidence indicates that shared sanitation conveys higher risk than household sanitation for many adverse health outcomes. However, studies often fail to account for variation between different types of shared facilities. As informal housing development outpaces sanitation infrastructure, it is imperative to understand which components of shared facilities may mitigate the health risks of shared sanitation use. METHODS This cross-sectional study determines whether sanitation improvement or compound hygiene were associated with stunting or diarrhoeal prevalence in children under five living in Maputo, Mozambique who rely on shared sanitation facilities. The study uses logistic and linear multivariable regression analysis to search for associations and control for potential confounding factors. RESULTS 346 children (43.9%) in the study population were stunted. Each unit increase in sanitation score was associated with an approximate decrease of 22% in the odds of stunting (OR: 0.78, CI: 0.66, 0.92), and an increase in height of 0.23 height-for-age z-scores (CI: 0.10, 0.36). There was no evidence that the compound hygiene score was associated with height as measured by stunting (OR: 1.05, CI: 0.87, 1.26) or z-score (-0.06, CI: -0.21, 0.09). Neither sanitation nor compound hygiene score were associated with diarrhoea in the population. CONCLUSIONS Use of an improved shared latrine is associated with decreased odds of stunting. There is no evidence of an association between latrine improvement and diarrhoea. Further investigation is necessary to isolate attributes of shared sanitation facilities that may reduce health risks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Braun
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
| | - Amy MacDougall
- Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Trent Sumner
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA
| | | | - Edna Viegas
- Instituto Nacional de Saúde Maputo, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Rassul Nalá
- Instituto Nacional de Saúde Maputo, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Joe Brown
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jackie Knee
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Oliver Cumming
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
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14
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Nguyen AT, Grembi JA, Riviere M, Barratt Heitmann G, Hutson WD, Athni TS, Patil A, Ercumen A, Lin A, Crider Y, Mertens A, Unicomb L, Rahman M, Luby SP, Arnold BF, Benjamin-Chung J. Influence of Temperature and Precipitation on the Effectiveness of Water, Sanitation, and Handwashing Interventions against Childhood Diarrheal Disease in Rural Bangladesh: A Reanalysis of the WASH Benefits Bangladesh Trial. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2024; 132:47006. [PMID: 38602833 PMCID: PMC11008709 DOI: 10.1289/ehp13807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Diarrheal disease is a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality globally. Household water, sanitation, and handwashing (WASH) interventions can reduce exposure to diarrhea-causing pathogens, but meteorological factors may impact their effectiveness. Information about effect heterogeneity under different weather conditions is critical to refining these targeted interventions. OBJECTIVES We aimed to determine whether temperature and precipitation modified the effect of low-cost, point-of-use WASH interventions on child diarrhea. METHODS We analyzed data from a trial in rural Bangladesh that compared child diarrhea prevalence between clusters (N = 720 ) that were randomized to different WASH interventions between 2012 and 2016 (NCT01590095). We matched temperature and precipitation measurements to diarrhea outcomes (N = 12,440 measurements, 6,921 children) by geographic coordinates and date. We estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) using generative additive models and targeted maximum likelihood estimation to assess the effectiveness of each WASH intervention under different weather conditions. RESULTS Generally, WASH interventions most effectively prevented diarrhea during monsoon season, particularly following weeks with heavy rain or high temperatures. The PR for diarrhea in the WASH interventions group compared with the control group was 0.49 (95% CI: 0.35, 0.68) after 1 d of heavy rainfall, with a less-protective effect [PR = 0.87 (95% CI: 0.60, 1.25)] when there were no days with heavy rainfall. Similarly, the PR for diarrhea in the WASH intervention group compared with the control group was 0.60 (95% CI: 0.48, 0.75) following above-median temperatures vs. 0.91 (95% CI: 0.61, 1.35) following below-median temperatures. The influence of precipitation and temperature varied by intervention type; for precipitation, the largest differences in effectiveness were for the sanitation and combined WASH interventions. DISCUSSION WASH intervention effectiveness was strongly influenced by precipitation and temperature, and nearly all protective effects were observed during the rainy season. Future implementation of these interventions should consider local environmental conditions to maximize effectiveness, including targeted efforts to maintain latrines and promote community adoption ahead of monsoon seasons. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13807.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna T. Nguyen
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Jessica A. Grembi
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Marie Riviere
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | | | - William D. Hutson
- Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Tejas S. Athni
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Arusha Patil
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Ayse Ercumen
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Audrie Lin
- Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA
| | - Yoshika Crider
- King Center on Global Development, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Andrew Mertens
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Leanne Unicomb
- Environmental Health and WASH, Health System and Population Studies Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Mahbubur Rahman
- Environmental Health and WASH, Health System and Population Studies Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Stephen P. Luby
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Benjamin F. Arnold
- Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Jade Benjamin-Chung
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California, USA
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15
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Butzin-Dozier Z, Ji Y, Coyle J, Malenica I, McQuade ETR, Grembi JA, Platts-Mills JA, Houpt ER, Graham JP, Ali S, Rahman MZ, Alauddin M, Famida SL, Akther S, Hossen MS, Mutsuddi P, Shoab AK, Rahman M, Islam MO, Miah R, Taniuchi M, Liu J, Alauddin S, Stewart CP, Luby SP, Colford JM, Hubbard AE, Mertens AN, Lin A. Treatment Heterogeneity of Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Nutrition Interventions on Child Growth by Environmental Enteric Dysfunction and Pathogen Status for Young Children in Bangladesh. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.03.21.24304684. [PMID: 38585931 PMCID: PMC10996736 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.21.24304684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Background Water, sanitation, hygiene (WSH), nutrition (N), and combined (N+WSH) interventions are often implemented by global health organizations, but WSH interventions may insufficiently reduce pathogen exposure, and nutrition interventions may be modified by environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), a condition of increased intestinal permeability and inflammation. This study investigated the heterogeneity of these treatments' effects based on individual pathogen and EED biomarker status with respect to child linear growth. Methods We applied cross-validated targeted maximum likelihood estimation and super learner ensemble machine learning to assess the conditional treatment effects in subgroups defined by biomarker and pathogen status. We analyzed treatment (N+WSH, WSH, N, or control) randomly assigned in-utero, child pathogen and EED data at 14 months of age, and child LAZ at 28 months of age. We estimated the difference in mean child length for age Z-score (LAZ) under the treatment rule and the difference in stratified treatment effect (treatment effect difference) comparing children with high versus low pathogen/biomarker status while controlling for baseline covariates. Results We analyzed data from 1,522 children, who had median LAZ of -1.56. We found that myeloperoxidase (N+WSH treatment effect difference 0.0007 LAZ, WSH treatment effect difference 0.1032 LAZ, N treatment effect difference 0.0037 LAZ) and Campylobacter infection (N+WSH treatment effect difference 0.0011 LAZ, WSH difference 0.0119 LAZ, N difference 0.0255 LAZ) were associated with greater effect of all interventions on growth. In other words, children with high myeloperoxidase or Campylobacter infection experienced a greater impact of the interventions on growth. We found that a treatment rule that assigned the N+WSH (LAZ difference 0.23, 95% CI (0.05, 0.41)) and WSH (LAZ difference 0.17, 95% CI (0.04, 0.30)) interventions based on EED biomarkers and pathogens increased predicted child growth compared to the randomly allocated intervention. Conclusions These findings indicate that EED biomarker and pathogen status, particularly Campylobacter and myeloperoxidase (a measure of gut inflammation), may be related to impact of N+WSH, WSH, and N interventions on child linear growth.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yunwen Ji
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Jeremy Coyle
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Ivana Malenica
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | | | - Jessica Anne Grembi
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
| | | | - Eric R. Houpt
- School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Jay P. Graham
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Shahjahan Ali
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md Ziaur Rahman
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Mohammad Alauddin
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Syeda L. Famida
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Salma Akther
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md. Saheen Hossen
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Palash Mutsuddi
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Abul K. Shoab
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Mahbubur Rahman
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md. Ohedul Islam
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Rana Miah
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Mami Taniuchi
- School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Jie Liu
- School of Public Health, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | | | | | - Stephen P. Luby
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
| | - John M. Colford
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Alan E. Hubbard
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Andrew N. Mertens
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Audrie Lin
- Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA USA
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16
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Contreras JD, Islam M, Mertens A, Pickering AJ, Arnold BF, Benjamin-Chung J, Hubbard AE, Rahman M, Unicomb L, Luby SP, Colford JM, Ercumen A. Improved Child Feces Management Mediates Reductions in Childhood Diarrhea from an On-Site Sanitation Intervention: Causal Mediation Analysis of a Cluster-Randomized Trial in Rural Bangladesh. J Epidemiol Glob Health 2024:10.1007/s44197-024-00210-y. [PMID: 38507184 DOI: 10.1007/s44197-024-00210-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The WASH benefits Bangladesh trial multi-component sanitation intervention reduced diarrheal disease among children < 5 years. Intervention components included latrine upgrades, child feces management tools, and behavioral promotion. It remains unclear which components most impacted diarrhea. METHODS We conducted mediation analysis within a subset of households (n = 720) from the sanitation and control arms. Potential mediators were categorized into indicators of latrine quality, latrine use practices, and feces management practices. We estimated average causal mediation effects (ACME) as prevalence differences (PD), defined as the intervention's effect on diarrhea through its effect on the mediator. RESULTS The intervention improved all indicators compared to controls. We found significant mediation through multiple latrine use and feces management practice indicators. The strongest mediators during monsoon seasons were reduced open defecation among children aged < 3 and 3-8 years, and increased disposal of child feces into latrines. The strongest mediators during dry seasons were access to a flush/pour-flush latrine, reduced open defecation among children aged 3-8 years, and increased disposal of child feces into latrines. Individual mediation effects were small (PD = 0.5-2 percentage points) compared to the overall intervention effect but collectively describe significant mediation pathways. DISCUSSION The effect of the WASH Benefits Bangladesh sanitation intervention on diarrheal disease was mediated through improved child feces management and reduced child open defecation. Although the intervention significantly improved latrine quality, relatively high latrine quality at baseline may have limited benefits from additional improvements. Targeting safe child feces management may increase the health benefits of rural sanitation interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse D Contreras
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103, USA
| | - Mahfuza Islam
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Andrew Mertens
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Amy J Pickering
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Benjamin F Arnold
- Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Jade Benjamin-Chung
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA
| | - Alan E Hubbard
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Mahbubur Rahman
- Environmental Health and WASH, Health Systems and Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh
| | - Leanne Unicomb
- Environmental Health and WASH, Health Systems and Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh
| | - Stephen P Luby
- Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - John M Colford
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Ayse Ercumen
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.
- Jordan Hall Addition 2225, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA.
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17
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Tadesse G, Wuletaw Y, Mekete K, Sime H, Yard E, Appleby L, Grimes J, Dejene N, Gardiner I, Kazienga A, Abbeddou S, French M, Levecke B, Drake L. Investigating the effect of a school-based WASH intervention on soil-transmitted helminth and schistosome infections and nutritional status of school children in Ethiopia: a quasi-experimental study. Parasit Vectors 2024; 17:130. [PMID: 38486228 PMCID: PMC10938701 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-024-06155-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The impact of access to improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health education on large-scale deworming programs aimed at controlling soil-transmitted helminth (STH) and schistosome (SCH) infections has not been well studied. We assessed the additional impact of improved WASH infrastructure and health education at schools on STH and SCH infections in Ethiopia. METHODS The study used a quasi-experimental design under which 30 schools were assigned to either an intervention (15 schools) or control (15 schools) arm. Both arms received a standard deworming treatment and lunch. In the intervention arm, improved WASH and health education were provided. At three consecutive time points (baseline in 2013, 2014 and 2015), the prevalence and intensity of STH and SCH infections and the nutritional status [hemoglobin concentrations and physical growth (height and weight)] were determined. To verify whether interventions were successfully implemented, the WASH status at school and the student knowledge, attitudes and practices related to WASH (WASH-KAP) were recorded. Differences in metrics between arms at baseline (2013) and follow-up (2015) were assessed both within and between the arms. RESULTS A significant increase in scores for both the school WASH and student KAP was found in the intervention arm, indicating successful implementation of the intervention. The prevalence of any STH infection was significantly reduced in the intervention arm but not in the control arm (F = 4.486, p = 0.034). There was a significantly greater reduction in the intensity of infection of hookworm and Ascaris lumbricoides compared to baseline in both arms. The intervention did not affect school children's height-for-age z-score (intervention arm * time coef = 0.12, p = 0.400) and body mass index-for-age z-scores (intervention * time coef = - 0.06, p = 0.526). Hemoglobin concentrations increased significantly more in the control than the intervention arm (coef = - 0.16, p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS Although the intervention did increase school WASH and student WASH-KAP, our study found poor evidence of the additional benefit of improved WASH and health education to deworming and school food programs on parasite re-infection and the health outcomes of children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gemechu Tadesse
- Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
| | - Yonas Wuletaw
- Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | | | - Heven Sime
- Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Elodie Yard
- Partnership for Child Development, London, UK
| | | | - Jack Grimes
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | | | | | - Adama Kazienga
- Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
| | - Souheila Abbeddou
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Bruno Levecke
- Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
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18
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Ahmed KO, Amini A, Dadkhah K, Bahrami J, Kavianpour MR, Rahim EKH, Ahmed NM, Heddam S, Mafakheri S. Assessment of Hygiene Practices, Awareness, and Water Consumption Regarding Covid-19 Among Children in a Refugee Camp. Matern Child Health J 2024; 28:545-556. [PMID: 37922059 DOI: 10.1007/s10995-023-03833-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/05/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION At the outbreak of infectious diseases, the response of different communities to the disease varies, and children are most affected by the collective anxiety and grief that consequently arises. In this research, the behavior of children and their parents in terms of hygiene and precautions before and during the COVID-19 pandemic was investigated. METHODOLOGY The focus of the present research was on sanitation facilities, particularly access to end-use of water for hand washing. The research was conducted in Barika Camp, Kurdistan, Iraq and 311 parents and children were interviewed. A data collection team consisting of two females and one male was responsible for gathering data, primarily from women who served as the main respondents. Questionnaires consisted of three main parts: demography, COVID-19 pandemic effects, and sanitary shelter specifications. RESULT The results demonstrated that the behavior of refugees during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the priority of child protection, type of disinfectants, and water consumption has significantly altered. These changes mainly depended on the women's age and education level. DISCUSSION Overall results showed that in 61.09% of the participants, the number of hand washes and in 58.58%, the washing time increased, leading to water shortage in the refugee camp.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaywan Othman Ahmed
- Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tishk International University, Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
| | - Ata Amini
- Kurdistan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Sanandaj, 66177-15175, Iran
| | - Kourosh Dadkhah
- Statistics Department, University of Kurdistan, PoBOX: 416, Sanandaj, Iran
| | - Jamil Bahrami
- Civil Engineering Department, University of Kurdistan, PoBOX: 416, Sanandaj, Iran
| | | | | | | | - Salim Heddam
- Laboratory of Research in Biodiversity Interaction Ecosystem and Biotechnology, Hydraulics Division, Agronomy Department, Faculty of Science, University 20 Août 1955 Skikda, Route El Hadaik, BP 26, Skikda, Algeria.
| | - Shiva Mafakheri
- Kurdistan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Sanandaj, 66169-36311, Iran
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19
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Mertens A, Arnold BF, Benjamin-Chung J, Boehm AB, Brown J, Capone D, Clasen T, Fuhrmeister ER, Grembi JA, Holcomb D, Knee J, Kwong LH, Lin A, Luby SP, Nala R, Nelson K, Njenga SM, Null C, Pickering AJ, Rahman M, Reese HE, Steinbaum L, Stewart JR, Thilakaratne R, Cumming O, Colford JM, Ercumen A. Is detection of enteropathogens and human or animal faecal markers in the environment associated with subsequent child enteric infections and growth: an individual participant data meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Health 2024; 12:e433-e444. [PMID: 38365415 PMCID: PMC10882208 DOI: 10.1016/s2214-109x(23)00563-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Quantifying contributions of environmental faecal contamination to child diarrhoea and growth faltering can illuminate causal mechanisms behind modest health benefits in recent water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) trials. We aimed to assess associations between environmental detection of enteropathogens and human or animal microbial source tracking markers (MSTM) and subsequent child health outcomes. METHODS In this individual participant data meta-analysis we searched we searched PubMed, Embase, CAB Direct Global Health, Agricultural and Environmental Science Database, Web of Science, and Scopus for WASH intervention studies with a prospective design and concurrent control that measured enteropathogens or MSTM in environmental samples, or both, and subsequently measured enteric infections, diarrhoea, or height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) in children younger than 5 years. We excluded studies that only measured faecal indicator bacteria. The initial search was done on Jan 19, 2021, and updated on March 22, 2023. One reviewer (AM) screened abstracts, and two independent reviewers (AM and RT) examined the full texts of short-listed articles. All included studies include at least one author that also contributed as an author to the present Article. Our primary outcomes were the 7-day prevalence of caregiver-reported diarrhoea and HAZ in children. For specific enteropathogens in the environment, primary outcomes also included subsequent child infection with the same pathogen ascertained by stool testing. We estimated associations using covariate-adjusted regressions and pooled estimates across studies. FINDINGS Data from nine published reports from five interventions studies, which included 8603 children (4302 girls and 4301 boys), were included in the meta-analysis. Environmental pathogen detection was associated with increased infection prevalence with the same pathogen and lower HAZ (ΔHAZ -0·09 [95% CI -0·17 to -0·01]) but not diarrhoea (prevalence ratio 1·22 [95% CI 0·95 to 1·58]), except during wet seasons. Detection of MSTM was not associated with diarrhoea (no pooled estimate) or HAZ (ΔHAZ -0·01 [-0·13 to 0·11] for human markers and ΔHAZ -0·02 [-0·24 to 0·21] for animal markers). Soil, children's hands, and stored drinking water were major transmission pathways. INTERPRETATION Our findings support a causal chain from pathogens in the environment to infection to growth faltering, indicating that the lack of WASH intervention effects on child growth might stem from insufficient reductions in environmental pathogen prevalence. Studies measuring enteropathogens in the environment should subsequently measure the same pathogens in stool to further examine theories of change between WASH, faecal contamination, and health. Given that environmental pathogen detection was predictive of infection, programmes targeting specific pathogens (eg, vaccinations and elimination efforts) can environmentally monitor the pathogens of interest for population-level surveillance instead of collecting individual biospecimens. FUNDING The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Mertens
- Division of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA; Division of Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Benjamin F Arnold
- Francis I Proctor Foundation and Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jade Benjamin-Chung
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Alexandria B Boehm
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Joe Brown
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Michael Hooker Research Center, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Drew Capone
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Thomas Clasen
- Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Erica R Fuhrmeister
- Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - David Holcomb
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Michael Hooker Research Center, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jackie Knee
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, London, UK
| | - Laura H Kwong
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Audrie Lin
- Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Stephen P Luby
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Rassul Nala
- Ministério da Saúde, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Maputo, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Kara Nelson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Amy J Pickering
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Mahbubur Rahman
- Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Heather E Reese
- Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Lauren Steinbaum
- California Department of Toxic Substances Control, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Jill R Stewart
- Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Michael Hooker Research Center, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | | | - Oliver Cumming
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, London, UK
| | - John M Colford
- Division of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Ayse Ercumen
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
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Dominguez-Salas P, Waddington HS, Grace D, Bosire C, Moodley A, Kulkarni B, Dasi T, Banjara SK, Kumar RN, Fahmida U, Htet MK, Sudibya ARP, Faye B, Tine RC, Heffernan C, Saxena D, Dreibelbis R, Häsler B. Understanding the role of household hygiene practices and foodborne disease risks in child stunting: a UKRI GCRF Action Against Stunting Hub protocol paper. BMJ Paediatr Open 2024; 8:e001695. [PMID: 38417924 PMCID: PMC10900323 DOI: 10.1136/bmjpo-2022-001695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Environmental hygiene and food safety are important determinants of child stunting. This research aims to explore the relationship between child stunting and household hygiene practices and behaviours, including the availability of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities; the use of safe food and good quality drinking water (especially when used for complementary feeding); hygienic practices in food transport, storage and preparation and the control of cross-contamination from animals, their produce and waste. METHODS AND ANALYSIS This study is part of a wider observational study which aims to investigate the interdisciplinary factors contributing to child stunting using a 'whole child' paradigm. The observational study recruits women during pregnancy in Hyderabad, India, Lombok, Indonesia and Kaffrine, Senegal, and dyads (ie, 500 mother-infant pairs per country) are followed longitudinally up to 24 months after birth. Within the interdisciplinary niche, the study here has developed tools to investigate the potential exposure pathways to environmental pathogen contamination of foods and water. Holistic WASH and food safety data collection tools have been developed to explore exposure pathways at the household level, including: (1) survey questionnaires; (2) spot-checks; (3) biological sampling of drinking water, food and domestic surfaces and (4) direct observation. An integrated analytical approach will be used to triangulate the evidence in order to examine the relationships between child stunting, WASH and food safety behaviours. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION Ethical approval of the study was granted by the ethics committee of the LSHTM, RVC, ILRI, ICMR, IIPHG, SEAMEO-RECFON, University of Cheikh Anta Diop. Findings of the study will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals, relevant international conferences, public engagement events, and policy-maker and stakeholder events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Dominguez-Salas
- National Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, London, UK
- Policies, Institutions and Livelihoods Programme, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Hugh Sharma Waddington
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Delia Grace
- National Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, London, UK
- Animal and Human Health Programme, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Caroline Bosire
- Animal and Human Health Programme, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Arshnee Moodley
- CGIAR Antimicrobial Resistance Hub, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Bharati Kulkarni
- National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
| | - Teena Dasi
- National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
| | | | | | - Umi Fahmida
- Southeast Asian Ministry of Education Organisation Regional Centre for Food and Nutrition (SEAMEO RECFON), East Jakarta, Indonesia
| | - Min Kyaw Htet
- Southeast Asian Ministry of Education Organisation Regional Centre for Food and Nutrition (SEAMEO RECFON), East Jakarta, Indonesia
| | - Arienta R P Sudibya
- Southeast Asian Ministry of Education Organisation Regional Centre for Food and Nutrition (SEAMEO RECFON), East Jakarta, Indonesia
| | - Babacar Faye
- Department of Parasitology, Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Dakar, Senegal
| | - Roger C Tine
- Department of Parasitology-Mycology, University of Cheikh Anta DIOP, Dakar, Senegal
| | - Claire Heffernan
- Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, University of London, London, UK
- London International Development Centre, London, UK
| | - Deepak Saxena
- Public Health Foundation, Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG), New Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Robert Dreibelbis
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - B Häsler
- Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College (RVC), Hatfield, UK
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21
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Momo Kadia B, Khouma M, Sow D, Faye B, Ramsteijn AS, Calvo-Urbano B, Jobarteh ML, Ferguson E, Haggarty P, Webster JP, Walker AW, Heffernan C, Allen SJ. Improving gut health and growth in early life: a protocol for an individually randomised, two-arm, open-label, controlled trial of a synbiotic in infants in Kaffrine District, Senegal. BMJ Paediatr Open 2024; 8:e001629. [PMID: 38417919 PMCID: PMC10900337 DOI: 10.1136/bmjpo-2022-001629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 03/01/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Infants exposed to enteropathogens through poor sanitation and hygiene can develop a subclinical disorder of the gut called environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), characterised by abnormal intestinal histology and permeability. EED can contribute to stunting through reduced digestion and absorption of nutrients, increased susceptibility to infections, increased systemic inflammation and inhibition of growth hormones. EED can be apparent by age 12 weeks, highlighting the need for early intervention. Modulating the early life gut microbiota using synbiotics may improve resistance against colonisation of the gut by enteropathogens, reduce EED and improve linear growth. METHODS AND ANALYSIS An individually randomised, two-arm, open-label, controlled trial will be conducted in Kaffrine District, Senegal. Infants will be recruited at birth and randomised to either receive a synbiotic containing two Bifidobacterium strains and one Lactobacillus strain, or no intervention, during the first 6 months of life. The impact of the intervention will be evaluated primarily by comparing length-for-age z-score at 12 months of age in infants in the intervention and control arms of the trial. Secondary outcome variables include biomarkers of intestinal inflammation, intestinal integrity and permeability, gut microbiota profiles, presence of enteropathogens, systemic inflammation, growth hormones, epigenetic status and episodes of illness during follow-up to age 24 months. DISCUSSION This trial will contribute to the evidence base on the use of a synbiotic to improve linear growth by preventing or ameliorating EED in a low-resource setting. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER PACTR202102689928613.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Momo Kadia
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
| | - Marietou Khouma
- Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
| | - Doudou Sow
- Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie, UFR Sciences de la Santé, Université Gaston Berger, Saint Louis, Senegal
| | - Babacar Faye
- Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
| | | | - Beatriz Calvo-Urbano
- Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, University of London, London, UK
| | - Modou L Jobarteh
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Elaine Ferguson
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Paul Haggarty
- Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Joanne P Webster
- Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, University of London, London, UK
| | - Alan W Walker
- Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - Claire Heffernan
- Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, University of London, London, UK
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
- London International Development Centre, London, UK
| | - Stephen J Allen
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
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22
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Arnold BF, Rerolle F, Tedijanto C, Njenga SM, Rahman M, Ercumen A, Mertens A, Pickering AJ, Lin A, Arnold CD, Das K, Stewart CP, Null C, Luby SP, Colford JM, Hubbard AE, Benjamin-Chung J. Geographic pair matching in large-scale cluster randomized trials. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1069. [PMID: 38316755 PMCID: PMC10844220 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45152-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Cluster randomized trials are often used to study large-scale public health interventions. In large trials, even small improvements in statistical efficiency can have profound impacts on the required sample size and cost. Location integrates many socio-demographic and environmental characteristics into a single, readily available feature. Here we show that pair matching by geographic location leads to substantial gains in statistical efficiency for 14 child health outcomes that span growth, development, and infectious disease through a re-analysis of two large-scale trials of nutritional and environmental interventions in Bangladesh and Kenya. Relative efficiencies from pair matching are ≥1.1 for all outcomes and regularly exceed 2.0, meaning an unmatched trial would need to enroll at least twice as many clusters to achieve the same level of precision as the geographically pair matched design. We also show that geographically pair matched designs enable estimation of fine-scale, spatially varying effect heterogeneity under minimal assumptions. Our results demonstrate broad, substantial benefits of geographic pair matching in large-scale, cluster randomized trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin F Arnold
- Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Francois Rerolle
- Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Christine Tedijanto
- Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Sammy M Njenga
- Eastern and Southern Africa Centre of International Parasite Control, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Mahbubur Rahman
- Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Ayse Ercumen
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Andrew Mertens
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Amy J Pickering
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Audrie Lin
- Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Charles D Arnold
- Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Kishor Das
- CURAM, SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | | | | | - Stephen P Luby
- Infectious diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - John M Colford
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Alan E Hubbard
- Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Jade Benjamin-Chung
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, CA, USA
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23
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Sobhan S, Müller-Hauser AA, Gon G, Nurul Huda TM, Waid JL, Wendt AS, Rahman M, Gabrysch S. Effect of a behaviour change intervention on household food hygiene practices in rural Bangladesh: A cluster-randomised controlled trial. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2024; 255:114291. [PMID: 37983985 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Behavioural interventions could improve caregivers' food hygiene practices in low-resource settings. So far, evidence is limited to small-scale and short-term studies, and few have evaluated the long-term maintenance of promoted behaviours. We evaluated the effect of a relatively large-scale behaviour change intervention on medium and long-term maintenance of household food hygiene practices in Bangladesh. METHODS We analyse a secondary outcome of the Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition (FAARM) cluster-randomised trial and its sub-study Food Hygiene to reduce Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (FHEED), conducted in Habiganj district, Sylhet division, Bangladesh. The FAARM trial used a 1:1 parallel arm design and included 2705 women in 96 settlements: 48 intervention and 48 control. Women in the intervention settlements received training in homestead gardening, poultry rearing and nutrition over three years (2015-2018), complemented by an eight-month (mid-2017 to early-2018) behaviour change component on food hygiene using motivational drivers. Nested within the FAARM trial, the FHEED sub-study evaluated several outcomes along the hygiene pathway. For this article, we evaluated household food hygiene behaviours by analysing structured observation data collected in two cross-sectional surveys, four and 16 months after the food hygiene promotion ended, from two independent subsamples of FAARM women with children aged 6-18 months. We assessed intervention effects on food hygiene practices using mixed-effects logistic regression, accounting for clustering. In exploratory analyses, we further assessed behaviour patterns - how often critical food hygiene behaviours were performed individually, in combination and consistently across events. RESULTS Based on the analysis of 524 complementary feeding and 800 food preparation events in households from 571 participant women, we found that intervention households practised better food hygiene than controls four months post-intervention, with somewhat smaller differences after 16 months. Overall, the intervention positively affected food hygiene, particularly around child feeding: using soap for handwashing (odds ratio 5·8, 95% CI 2·2-15·2), cleaning feeding utensils (3·8, 1·9-7·7), and cooking fresh/reheating food (1·8, 1·1-2·8). However, the simultaneous practice of several behaviours was rare, occurring in only 10% of feeding events (intervention: 15%; control: 4%), and the practice of safe food hygiene behaviours was inconsistent between events. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that a motivational behaviour change intervention encouraged caregivers to maintain certain safe food hygiene practices in a rural setting. However, substantial physical changes in the household environment are likely needed to make these behaviours habitual. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT02505711.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shafinaz Sobhan
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Berlin, Germany; Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany.
| | - Anna A Müller-Hauser
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Berlin, Germany; Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Giorgia Gon
- Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tarique Md Nurul Huda
- Department of Public Health, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, Qassim University, Al Bukairiyah, Saudi Arabia; Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Jillian L Waid
- Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany; Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Amanda S Wendt
- Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mahbubur Rahman
- Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Sabine Gabrysch
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Berlin, Germany; Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany; Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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24
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Beatty A, Borkum E, Leith W, Null C, Suriastini W. A cluster randomized controlled trial of a community-based initiative to reduce stunting in rural Indonesia. MATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION 2024; 20:e13593. [PMID: 38041533 PMCID: PMC10750001 DOI: 10.1111/mcn.13593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2023] [Revised: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
We evaluate the impacts of a $120 million project in Indonesia conducted between 2014 and 2018 that sought to reduce stunting through a combination of (1) community-driven development grants targeted at health and education outcomes, (2) training for health providers on infant and young child feeding and growth monitoring and (3) training for sanitarians on a local variation of community-led total sanitation. This cluster randomized controlled trial involved 95 treatment and 95 control subdistricts across South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan provinces. Overall, we find no significant impacts on stunting, the study's primary outcome measure (0.5 pp; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.0 to 4.1 percentage points [pp]), or other longer-term undernutrition outcomes about 1 year after the end of the project. The project had a modest impact on some secondary, more proximal outcomes related to maternal and child nutrition, including the percentage of mothers consuming the recommended number of iron-folic acid pills during pregnancy (8.7 pp; 95% CI: 4.1-13.3 pp), 0-5-month-olds being exclusively breastfed (8.7 pp; 95% CI: 1.8-15.6 pp) and 6-23-month-olds receiving the number of recommended meals per day (8.5 pp; 95% CI: 3.8-13.2 pp). However, there were no significant impacts on other proximal outcomes like the number of pre-natal and post-natal checkups, child dietary diversity, child vitamin A receipt or the incidence of child diarrhoea. Our findings highlight that successfully implementing an integrated package of interventions to reduce child stunting may be challenging in practice. Project design needs to consider implementation reality along with best practice-for example, by piloting the synchronous implementation of multifaceted interventions or phasing them in more gradually over a longer timeframe.
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Anderson DM, Mahamane E, Bauza V, Mahamadou KOB, Tantum L, Salzberg A. Effects of environmental conditions on healthcare worker wellbeing and quality of care: A qualitative study in Niger. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 3:e0002590. [PMID: 38117837 PMCID: PMC10732385 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/22/2023]
Abstract
Environmental conditions (water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management, cleaning, energy, building design) are important for a safe and functional healthcare environment. Yet their full range of impacts are not well understood. In this study, we assessed the impact of environmental conditions on healthcare workers' wellbeing and quality of care, using qualitative interviews with 81 healthcare workers at 26 small healthcare facilities in rural Niger. We asked participants to report successes and challenges with environmental conditions and their impacts on wellbeing (physical, social, mental, and economic) and quality of care. We found that all environmental conditions contributed to healthcare workers' wellbeing and quality of care. The norm in facilities of our sample was poor environmental conditions, and thus participants primarily reported detrimental effects. We identified previously documented effects on physical health and safety from pathogen exposure, but also several novel effects on healthcare workers' mental and economic wellbeing and on efficiency, timeliness, and patient centeredness of care. Key wellbeing impacts included pathogen exposure for healthcare workers, stress from unsafe and chaotic working environments, staff dissatisfaction and retention challenges, out-of-pocket spending to avoid stockouts, and uncompensated labor. Key quality of care impacts included pathogen exposure for patients, healthcare worker time dedicated to non-medical tasks like water fetching (i.e., reduced efficiency), breakdowns and spoilage of equipment and supplies, and patient satisfaction with cleanliness and privacy. Inefficiency due to time lost and damaged supplies and equipment likely have substantial economic value and warrant greater consideration in research and policy making. Impacts on staff retention and care efficiency also have implications for health systems. We recommend that future research and decision making for policy and practice incorporate more holistic impact measures beyond just healthcare acquired infections and reconsider the substantial contribution that environmental conditions make to the safety of healthcare facilities and strength of health systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darcy M. Anderson
- The Water Institute at UNC, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Ezechiel Mahamane
- World Vision Niger, Nouveau Marche, Boulevard de la Liberté BP 12713, Niamey, Niger
| | - Valerie Bauza
- The Water Institute at UNC, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | | | - Lucy Tantum
- The Water Institute at UNC, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Aaron Salzberg
- The Water Institute at UNC, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
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Legge H, Pullan RL, Sartorius B. Improved household flooring is associated with lower odds of enteric and parasitic infections in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 3:e0002631. [PMID: 38039279 PMCID: PMC10691699 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
Enteric and parasitic infections such as soil-transmitted helminths cause considerable mortality and morbidity in low- and middle-income settings. Earthen household floors are common in many of these settings and could serve as a reservoir for enteric and parasitic pathogens, which can easily be transmitted to new hosts through direct or indirect contact. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to establish whether and to what extent improved household floors decrease the odds of enteric and parasitic infections among occupants compared with occupants living in households with unimproved floors. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we comprehensively searched four electronic databases for studies in low- and middle-income settings measuring household flooring as an exposure and self-reported diarrhoea or any type of enteric or intestinal-parasitic infection as an outcome. Metadata from eligible studies were extracted and transposed on to a study database before being imported into the R software platform for analysis. Study quality was assessed using an adapted version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. In total 110 studies were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review, of which 65 were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis after applying study quality cut-offs. Random-effects meta-analysis suggested that households with improved floors had 0.75 times (95CI: 0.67-0.83) the odds of infection with any type of enteric or parasitic infection compared with household with unimproved floors. Improved floors gave a pooled protective OR of 0.68 (95CI: 0.58-0.8) for helminthic infections and 0.82 OR (95CI: 0.75-0.9) for bacterial or protozoan infections. Overall study quality was poor and there is an urgent need for high-quality experimental studies investigating this relationship. Nevertheless, this study indicates that household flooring may meaningfully contribute towards a substantial portion of the burden of disease for enteric and parasitic infections in low- and middle-income settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Legge
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rachel L. Pullan
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Benn Sartorius
- School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Department of Health Metric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
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Ahmed KY, Ogbo FA, Tegegne TK, Dalton H, Arora A, Ross AG. Interventions to improve the nutritional status of children under 5 years in Ethiopia: a systematic review. Public Health Nutr 2023; 26:3147-3161. [PMID: 37905557 PMCID: PMC10755407 DOI: 10.1017/s1368980023002410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To conduct a systematic review of experimental or quasi-experimental studies that aimed to improve the nutritional status of children under 5 years of age in Ethiopia. DESIGN Embase, MEDLINE/PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsychINFO, and Academic Search Database were used to locate peer-reviewed studies, and Google Scholar and Open Dissertation were used to locate grey literatures. All searches were conducted between 2000 and November 2022. SETTING Ethiopia. PARTICIPANTS Pregnant women and mothers with children aged 0-59 months. RESULTS Ten cluster randomised controlled trials (RCT), six quasi-experimental studies and two individual RCT were included. Out of the identified eighteen studies, three studies targeted pregnant mothers. Our findings showed that almost two-thirds of published interventions had no impact on childhood stunting and wasting, and more than half had no impact on underweight. Some behaviour change communication (BCC) interventions, food vouchers, micronutrient supplementation and quality protein maize improved stunting. Similarly, BCC and fish oil supplementation showed promise in reducing wasting, while BCC and the provision of quality protein maize reduced underweight. Additionally, water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) interventions provided to pregnant mothers and children under 2 years of age were shown to significantly reduce childhood stunting. CONCLUSION Future childhood nutritional interventions in Ethiopia should consider adopting an integrated approach that combines the positive effects of interdependent systems such as BCC, food supplemental programmes (e.g. boosting protein and micronutrients), health interventions (e.g. strengthening maternal and childcare), WaSH and financial initiatives (e.g. monetary support and income schemes).
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Affiliation(s)
- Kedir Y Ahmed
- Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia
- Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
| | - Felix Akpojene Ogbo
- Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
- Riverland Academy of Clinical Excellence (RACE), Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network, SA Health, Government of South Australia, Berri, SA, Australia
| | - Teketo Kassaw Tegegne
- Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
| | - Hazel Dalton
- Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia
- School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Orange, NSW, Australia
| | - Amit Arora
- Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
- School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown Campus, NSW, Australia
- Oral Health Services, Sydney Local Health District and Sydney Dental Hospital, NSW Health, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia
- Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
- Health Equity Laboratory, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia
| | - Allen G Ross
- Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia
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Baker KK, Simiyu S, Busienei P, Gutema FD, Okoth B, Agira J, Amondi CS, Ziraba A, Kapanka AG, Osinuga A, Ouma C, Sewell DK, Gaire S, Tumwebaze IK, Mberu B. Protocol for the PATHOME study: a cohort study on urban societal development and the ecology of enteric disease transmission among infants, domestic animals and the environment. BMJ Open 2023; 13:e076067. [PMID: 38000826 PMCID: PMC10680014 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-076067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Global morbidity from enteric infections and diarrhoea remains high in children in low-income and middle-income countries, despite significant investment over recent decades in health systems and water and sanitation infrastructure. Other types of societal development may be required to reduce disease burden. Ecological research on the influence of household and neighbourhood societal development on pathogen transmission dynamics between humans, animals and the environment could identify more effective strategies for preventing enteric infections. METHODS AND ANALYSIS The 'enteric pathome'-that is, the communities of viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens transmitted from human and animal faeces through the environment is taxonomically complex in high burden settings. This integrated cohort-exposure assessment study leverages natural socioeconomic spectrums of development to study how pathome complexity is influenced by household and neighbourhood infrastructure and hygiene conditions. We are enrolling under 12-month-old children in low-income and middle-income neighbourhoods of two Kenyan cities (Nairobi and Kisumu) into a 'short-cohort' study involving repeat testing of child faeces for enteric pathogens. A mid-study exposure assessment documenting infrastructural, behavioural, spatial, climate, environmental and zoonotic factors characterises pathogen exposure pathways in household and neighbourhood settings. These data will be used to inform and validate statistical and agent-based models (ABM) that identify individual or combined intervention strategies for reducing multipathogen transmission between humans, animals and environment in urban Kenya. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION The protocols for human subjects' research were approved by Institutional Review Boards at the University of Iowa (ID-202004606) and AMREF Health Africa (ID-ESRC P887/2020), and a national permit was obtained from the Kenya National Commission for Science Technology and Innovation (ID# P/21/8441). The study was registered on Clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT05322655) and is in pre-results stage. Protocols for research on animals were approved by the University of Iowa Animal Care and Use Committee (ID 0042302).
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly K Baker
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, The University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Sheillah Simiyu
- Division of Population Dynamics and Urbanization, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Phylis Busienei
- Division of Population Dynamics and Urbanization, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Fanta D Gutema
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, The University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Bonphace Okoth
- Division of Population Dynamics and Urbanization, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - John Agira
- Division of Population Dynamics and Urbanization, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Christine S Amondi
- Division of Population Dynamics and Urbanization, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Abdhalah Ziraba
- Division of Health and Wellbeing, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Alexis G Kapanka
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, The University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Abisola Osinuga
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, The University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Daniel K Sewell
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Sabin Gaire
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Innocent K Tumwebaze
- Division of Population Dynamics and Urbanization, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Blessing Mberu
- Division of Population Dynamics and Urbanization, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya
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Hausdorff WP, Anderson JD, Bagamian KH, Bourgeois AL, Mills M, Sawe F, Scheele S, Talaat K, Giersing BK. Vaccine value profile for Shigella. Vaccine 2023; 41 Suppl 2:S76-S94. [PMID: 37827969 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.12.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Shigella is the leading bacterial cause of diarrhoea and the second leading cause of diarrhoeal mortality among all ages. It also exhibits increasing levels of antibiotic resistance. The greatest burden is among children under five in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As such, a priority strategic goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) is the development of a safe, effective and affordable vaccine to reduce morbidity and mortality from Shigella-attributable dysentery and diarrhea, including long term outcomes associated with chronic inflammation and growth faltering, in children under 5 years of age in LMICs. In addition, a safe and effective Shigella vaccine is of potential interest to travellers and military both to prevent acute disease and rarer, long-term sequelae. An effective Shigella vaccine is also anticipated to reduce antibiotic use and thereby help diminish further emergence of enteric pathogens resistant to antimicrobials. The most advanced vaccine candidates are multivalent, parenteral formulations in Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical studies. They rely on O-antigen-polysaccharide protein conjugate technologies or, alternatively, outer membrane vesicles expressing penta-acylated lipopolysaccharide that has been detoxified. Other parenteral and oral formulations, many delivering a broader array of Shigella antigens, are at earlier stages of clinical development. These formulations are being assessed in alignment with the WHO Preferred Product Characteristics, which call for a 1 to 2 dose primary immunization series given during the first 12 months of life, ideally starting at 6 months of age. This 'Vaccine Value Profile' (VVP) for Shigella is intended to provide a high-level, holistic assessment of the information and data that are currently available to inform the potential public health, economic and societal value of pipeline vaccines and vaccine-like products. This VVP was developed by a working group of subject matter experts from academia, non-profit organizations, government agencies and multi-lateral organizations. All contributors have extensive expertise on various elements of the Shigella VVP and collectively aimed to identify current research and knowledge gaps. The VVP was developed using only existing and publicly available information.
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Affiliation(s)
- William P Hausdorff
- Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, PATH, 455 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA; Faculty of Medicine, Université de Bruxelles, Brussels 1070, Belgium.
| | - John D Anderson
- Office of Health Affairs, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA; Bagamian Scientific Consulting, LLC, Gainesville, FL 32601, USA
| | - Karoun H Bagamian
- Bagamian Scientific Consulting, LLC, Gainesville, FL 32601, USA; Department of Environmental and Global Health, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32603, USA
| | - A Louis Bourgeois
- Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, PATH, 455 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA
| | - Melody Mills
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA
| | - Frederick Sawe
- Kenya Medical Research Institute/U.S. Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa/Kenya-Henry Jackson Foundation MRI, Kericho, Kenya
| | - Suzanne Scheele
- Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, PATH, 455 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA
| | - Kawsar Talaat
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Birgitte K Giersing
- Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals (IVB), World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland
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Shioda K, Brouwer AF, Lamar F, Mucache HN, Levy K, Freeman MC. Opportunities to Interrupt Transmission of Enteropathogens of Poultry Origin in Maputo, Mozambique: A Transmission Model Analysis. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2023; 131:117004. [PMID: 37910131 PMCID: PMC10619637 DOI: 10.1289/ehp12314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The burden of diarrheal diseases remains high among children in low-income countries. Enteropathogens are challenging to control because they are transmitted via multiple pathways. Chickens are an important animal protein source, but live chickens and their products are often highly contaminated with enteropathogens. OBJECTIVES We conducted this study to a) understand the contribution of multiple transmission pathways to the force of infection of Campylobacter spp. and nontyphoidal Salmonella spp., b) quantify the potential impact of reducing each pathway on human infection, and c) quantify hypothesized pathway reduction from the context of Maputo, Mozambique. METHODS We developed transmission models for Campylobacter and Salmonella that captured person-to-person, water-to-person, food-to-person, soil-to-person, animal-to-person, and all-other-sources-to-person in an urban, low-income setting in Mozambique. We calibrated these models using prevalence data from Maputo, Mozambique and estimates of attributable fraction of transmission pathways for the region. We simulated the prevalence of human infection after reducing transmission through each pathway. RESULTS Simulation results indicated that if foodborne transmission were reduced by 90%, the prevalence of Campylobacter and Salmonella infection would decline by [52.2%; 95% credible interval (CrI): 39.7, 63.8] and (46.9%; 95% CrI: 39, 55.4), respectively. Interruption of any other pathway did not have a substantial impact. Combined with survey and microbiology data, if contamination of broiler chicken meat at informal markets in Maputo could be reduced by 90%, the total infection of Campylobacter and Salmonella could be reduced by 21% (16-26%) and 12% (10-13%), respectively. DISCUSSION Our transmission models showed that the foodborne transmission has to be reduced to control enteropathogen infections in our study site, and likely in other similar contexts, but mitigation of this transmission pathway has not received sufficient attention. Our model can serve as a tool to identify effective mitigation opportunities to control zoonotic enteropathogens. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12314.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayoko Shioda
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Department of Global Health, Boston University, Boston, MA
- Boston University Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research, Boston, MA
| | - Andrew F Brouwer
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Frederica Lamar
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Karen Levy
- Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Matthew C Freeman
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Lamar F, Mucache HN, Mondlane-Milisse A, Jesser KJ, Victor C, Fafetine JM, Saíde JÂO, Fèvre EM, Caruso BA, Freeman MC, Levy K. Quantifying Enteropathogen Contamination along Chicken Value Chains in Maputo, Mozambique: A Multidisciplinary and Mixed-Methods Approach to Identifying High Exposure Settings. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2023; 131:117007. [PMID: 37962439 PMCID: PMC10644898 DOI: 10.1289/ehp11761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Small-scale poultry production is widespread and increasing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Exposure to enteropathogens in poultry feces increases the hazard of human infection and related sequela, and the burden of disease due to enteric infection in children < 5 y in particular is substantial. Yet, the containment and management of poultry-associated fecal waste in informal settings in LMICs is largely unregulated. OBJECTIVES To improve the understanding of potential exposures to enteropathogens carried by chickens, we used mixed methods to map and quantify microbial hazards along production value chains among broiler, layer, and indigenous chickens in Maputo, Mozambique. METHODS To map and describe the value chains, we conducted 77 interviews with key informants working in locations where chickens and related products are sold, raised, and butchered. To quantify microbial hazards, we collected chicken carcasses (n = 75 ) and fecal samples (n = 136 ) from chickens along the value chain and assayed them by qPCR for the chicken-associated bacterial enteropathogens C. jejuni/coli and Salmonella spp. RESULTS We identified critical hazard points along the chicken value chains and identified management and food hygiene practices that contribute to potential exposures to chicken-sourced enteropathogens. We detected C. jejuni/coli in 84 (76%) of fecal samples and 52 (84%) of carcass rinses and Salmonella spp. in 13 (11%) of fecal samples and 16 (21%) of carcass rinses. Prevalence and level of contamination increased as chickens progressed along the value chain, from no contamination of broiler chicken feces at the start of the value chain to 100% contamination of carcasses with C. jejuni/coli at informal markets. Few hazard mitigation strategies were found in the informal sector. DISCUSSION High prevalence and concentration of C. jejuni/coli and Salmonella spp. contamination along chicken value chains suggests a high potential for exposure to these enteropathogens associated with chicken production and marketing processes in the informal sector in our study setting. We identified critical control points, such as the carcass rinse step and storage of raw chicken meat, that could be intervened in to mitigate risk, but regulation and enforcement pose challenges. This mixed-methods approach can also provide a model to understand animal value chains, sanitary risks, and associated exposures in other settings. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11761.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederica Lamar
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | | | - Kelsey J. Jesser
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Courtney Victor
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - José M. Fafetine
- Veterinary Faculty, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique
- Biotechnology Centre, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique
| | | | - Eric M. Fèvre
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Neston, UK
- International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Bethany A. Caruso
- Hubert Department of Global Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Matthew C. Freeman
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Karen Levy
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Kamiya Y, Kishida T. Effect of Drinking Water and Sanitation on Child Undernutrition and Diarrhea in Lao PDR. Asia Pac J Public Health 2023; 35:494-501. [PMID: 37837291 DOI: 10.1177/10105395231204797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
Childhood undernutrition and diarrhea remain a global health burden in the 21st century. We assessed the effect of access to basic drinking water and sanitation at home on reducing children's likelihood of being undernourished and experiencing diarrhea in Laos. We pooled two rounds of nationally representative cross-sectional household surveys: the Lao Social Indicator Surveys 2011/2012 and 2017, encompassing 23 070 children aged <5 years. We employed multivariate multilevel logistic regression for the analysis. The results showed that access to basic drinking water was associated with a reduced likelihood of undernutrition and was effective in improving child undernutrition. Moreover, access to basic sanitation reduced diarrhea in addition to undernutrition. Notably, sanitation facilities only mitigated childhood stunting and diarrhea when basic drinking water facilities were present in the household. We also confirmed that socio-economic disparities existed among children accessing basic drinking water and sanitation. Consequently, further efforts are needed toward equitable access to these facilities in Laos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Kamiya
- Faculty of Economics, Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Takaaki Kishida
- Department of Economics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Sahiledengle B, Mwanri L, Blumenberg C, Agho KE. Gender-specific disaggregated analysis of childhood undernutrition in Ethiopia: evidence from 2000-2016 nationwide survey. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:2040. [PMID: 37853384 PMCID: PMC10585928 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16907-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Childhood undernutrition has been investigated extensively in previous literature but gender inequality detailing the burden of undernutrition has not been adequately addressed in scientific papers, especially in Ethiopia, where undernutrition is known to be a public health problem of high significance, necessitating increased efforts to address it and reduce this inequality. This study was carried out to: (1) explore gender differences in the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight, and (2) compare the factors associated with childhood undernutrition between boys and girls in Ethiopia. METHODS The study used a dataset of more than 33,564 children aged under 5 years (boys: 17,078 and girls: 16,486) who were included in the nationally representative Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) from 2000 to 2016. The outcome variables were anthropometric indices: stunting (height-for-age < -2 standard deviations), wasting (weight-for-height < -2 standard deviations), and underweight (weight-for-age < -2 standard deviations). Gender-specific multilevel analyses were used to examine and compare the factors associated with child undernutrition. RESULTS The overall prevalence of stunting (49.1% for boys vs 45.3% for girls, p < 0.001), wasting (11.9% for boys vs 9.9% for girls, p < 0.001), and underweight (33.1% for boys vs 29.8% for girls, p < 0.001) higher among boys compared to girls. Boys significantly had higher odds of stunting (aOR: 1.31, 95%CI: 1.21-1.42), wasting (aOR: 1.35, 1.23-1.48), and underweight (aOR: 1.38, 95%CI: 1.26-1.50) than girls. The common factors associated with childhood undernutrition for male and female children were the child's age, perceived size of the child at birth, breastfeeding status, maternal stature, maternal education, toilet facility, wealth index, and place of residence. Boys who were perceived by their mothers to be average sized at birth and were born to uneducated mothers had a higher likelihood of experiencing wasting, in contrast to girls. Among boys, birth order (firstborn), household size (1-4), and place of residence (urban) were associated with lower odds of being underweight. Boys living in cities had lower odds of being stunted. While girls born to mothers with no education and worked in agriculture were at a higher odd of being stunted. CONCLUSION Our study revealed that boys were more likely to be malnourished than girls, regardless of their age category, and there were variations in the factors determining undernutrition among boys and girls. The differences in the burden of undernutrition were significant and alarming, positioning Ethiopia to be questioned whether it will meet the set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 of zero hunger by 2030. These findings call for more effort to address malnutrition as a significant public health issue in Ethiopia, and to urgently recognise the need for enhanced interventions that address the gender gap in childhood undernutrition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Biniyam Sahiledengle
- Department of Public Health, Madda Walabu University Goba Referral Hospital, Bale-Goba, Ethiopia.
| | - Lillian Mwanri
- Research Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing (PHEHF), Torrens University Australia, Adelaide Campus, SA, 5000, Australia
| | - Cauane Blumenberg
- International Center for Equity in Health, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
- Post-Graduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
- Causale Consultoria, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Kingsley Emwinyore Agho
- School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
- School of Medicine, Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown Campus, Penrith, NSW, 2571, Australia
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Bundy DAP, Schultz L, Antoninis M, Barry FBM, Burbano C, Croke K, Drake L, Gyapong J, Karutu C, Kihara J, Lo MM, Makkar P, Mwandawiro C, Ossipow SJ, Bento AR, Rollinson D, Shah H, Turner HC. A positive consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic: how the counterfactual experience of school closures is accelerating a multisectoral response to the treatment of neglected tropical diseases. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220282. [PMID: 37598709 PMCID: PMC10440164 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Global access to deworming treatment is one of the public health success stories of low-income countries in the twenty-first century. Parasitic worm infections are among the most ubiquitous chronic infections of humans, and early success with mass treatment programmes for these infections was the key catalyst for the neglected tropical disease (NTD) agenda. Since the launch of the 'London Declaration' in 2012, school-based deworming programmes have become the world's largest public health interventions. WHO estimates that by 2020, some 3.3 billion school-based drug treatments had been delivered. The success of this approach was brought to a dramatic halt in April 2020 when schools were closed worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These closures immediately excluded 1.5 billion children not only from access to education but also from all school-based health services, including deworming. WHO Pulse surveys in 2021 identified NTD treatment as among the most negatively affected health interventions worldwide, second only to mental health interventions. In reaction, governments created a global Coalition with the twin aims of reopening schools and of rebuilding more resilient school-based health systems. Today, some 86 countries, comprising more than half the world's population, are delivering on this response, and school-based coverage of some key school-based programmes exceeds those from January 2020. This paper explores how science, and a combination of new policy and epidemiological perspectives that began in the 1980s, led to the exceptional growth in school-based NTD programmes after 2012, and are again driving new momentum in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article is part of the theme issue 'Challenges and opportunities in the fight against neglected tropical diseases: a decade from the London Declaration on NTDs'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald A. P. Bundy
- Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Linda Schultz
- Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | | | | | | | - Kevin Croke
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | - John Gyapong
- University of Health and Allied Sciences, PMB 31, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Hugo C. Turner
- MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BX, UK
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Lambrecht NJ, Müller-Hauser AA, Sobhan S, Schmidt WP, Huda TMN, Waid JL, Wendt AS, Kader A, Gabrysch S. Effect of a Homestead Food Production Program on the Prevalence of Diarrhea and Acute Respiratory Infection in Children in Sylhet, Bangladesh: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2023; 109:945-956. [PMID: 37580032 PMCID: PMC10551083 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.23-0152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Diarrhea and respiratory illness are leading causes of mortality and morbidity among young children. We assessed the impact of a homestead food production intervention on diarrhea and acute respiratory infection (ARI) in children in Bangladesh, secondary outcomes of the Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition (FAARM) cluster-randomized trial. The trial enrolled 2,705 married women and their children 3 years or younger in 96 rural settlements (geographic clusters) in Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. The intervention promoted home gardening and poultry rearing alongside child nutrition and health counseling over 3 years (2015-2018). An 8-month food hygiene behavior change component using emotional drivers was delivered beginning in mid-2017. Caregiver-reported diarrhea and symptoms of ARI in the week preceding the survey were recorded every 2 months. We analyzed 32,460 observations of 3,276 children over 4 years and found that 3.9% of children had diarrhea and 3.4% had an ARI in the prior 7 days. There was no overall effect of the intervention on 7-day diarrhea period prevalence (odds ratio [OR], 0.92; 95% CI, 0.71-1.19), diarrhea point prevalence (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.78-1.36), or 7-day ARI period prevalence (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.88-1.60). There was no impact on diarrhea severity or differences in health-seeking behaviors. Our findings suggest that this homestead food production program was insufficient to reduce morbidity symptoms among children in a rural setting. More comprehensive water, sanitation, and hygiene measures, and behavioral recommendations may be needed to achieve impacts on child health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathalie J. Lambrecht
- Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Berlin, Germany
- Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Anna A. Müller-Hauser
- Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Berlin, Germany
- Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Shafinaz Sobhan
- Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Berlin, Germany
- Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Wolf-Peter Schmidt
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tarique Md. Nurul Huda
- Department of Public Health, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, Qassim University, Al Bukairiyah, Saudi Arabia
- Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Jillian L. Waid
- Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
- Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Amanda S. Wendt
- Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Abdul Kader
- Bangladesh Country Office, Helen Keller International, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Sabine Gabrysch
- Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Public Health, Berlin, Germany
- Research Department 2, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, Germany
- Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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Lin J, Feng XL. Exploring the impact of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), early adequate feeding and access to health care on urban-rural disparities of child malnutrition in China. MATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION 2023; 19:e13542. [PMID: 37376961 PMCID: PMC10483939 DOI: 10.1111/mcn.13542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
To explore the effects of UNICEF-suggested modifiable factors, that is, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), early adequate feeding and health care on child malnutrition, and to examine the extent to which each factor contributes to urban-rural disparities of child malnutrition in China. Pooling two waves of regionally representative survey data from Jilin, China, in 2013 and 2018, we report on urban-rural relative risks (RRs) in the prevalence of child stunting, wasting and overweight. We employ Poisson regression to examine the effects of urban-rural setting and the three modifiable factors on the prevalence of each malnutrition outcome, that is, stunting, wasting and overweight. We perform mediation analyses to estimate the extent to which each modifiable factor could explain the urban-rural disparities in each malnutrition outcome. The prevalence of stunting, wasting and overweight were 10.9%, 6.3% and 24.7% in urban, and 27.9%, 8.2% and 35.9% in rural Jilin, respectively. The rural to urban crude RR was 2.55 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.92-3.39) for stunting, while the corresponding RRs for wasting and overweight were 1.31 (95% CI: 0.84-2.03) and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.20-1.76), respectively. The rural to urban RR for stunting reduced to 2.01 (95% CI: 1.44-2.79) after adjusting for WASH. The mediation analyses show that WASH could mediate 23.96% (95% CI: 4.34-43.58%) of the urban-rural disparities for stunting, while early adequate feeding and health care had no effects. To close the persistent urban-rural gap in child malnutrition, the specific context of rural China suggests that a multi-sectoral approach is warranted that focuses on the sanitation environment and other wider social determinants of health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junjie Lin
- Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public HealthPeking UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Xing Lin Feng
- Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public HealthPeking UniversityBeijingChina
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Adams KP, Vosti SA, Arnold CD, Engle-Stone R, Prado EL, Stewart CP, Wessells KR, Dewey KG. The cost-effectiveness of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements for prevention of child death and malnutrition and promotion of healthy development: modelling results for Uganda. Public Health Nutr 2023; 26:2083-2095. [PMID: 37606091 PMCID: PMC10564609 DOI: 10.1017/s1368980023001805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Recent meta-analyses demonstrate that small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) for young children significantly reduce child mortality, stunting, wasting, anaemia and adverse developmental outcomes. Cost considerations should inform policy decisions. We developed a modelling framework to estimate the cost and cost-effectiveness of SQ-LNS and applied the framework in the context of rural Uganda. DESIGN We adapted costs from a costing study of micronutrient powder (MNP) in Uganda, and based effectiveness estimates on recent meta-analyses and Uganda-specific estimates of baseline mortality and the prevalence of stunting, wasting, anaemia and developmental disability. SETTING Rural Uganda. PARTICIPANTS Not applicable. RESULTS Providing SQ-LNS daily to all children in rural Uganda (> 1 million) for 12 months (from 6 to 18 months of age) via the existing Village Health Team system would cost ∼$52 per child (2020 US dollars) or ∼$58·7 million annually. SQ-LNS could avert an average of > 242 000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) annually as a result of preventing 3689 deaths, > 160 000 cases of moderate or severe anaemia and ∼6000 cases of developmental disability. The estimated cost per DALY averted is $242. CONCLUSIONS In this context, SQ-LNS may be more cost-effective than other options such as MNP or the provision of complementary food, although the total cost for a programme including all age-eligible children would be high. Strategies to reduce costs, such as targeting to the most vulnerable populations and the elimination of taxes on SQ-LNS, may enhance financial feasibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine P Adams
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Stephen A Vosti
- Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Charles D Arnold
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Reina Engle-Stone
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Elizabeth L Prado
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Christine P Stewart
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - K Ryan Wessells
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Kathryn G Dewey
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
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Li X, Li Y, Yu B, Nima Q, Meng H, Shen M, Zhou Z, Liu S, Tian Y, Xing X, Yin L. Urban-rural differences in the association between long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) and malnutrition status among children under five years old: A cross-sectional study in China. J Glob Health 2023; 13:04112. [PMID: 37736866 PMCID: PMC10515095 DOI: 10.7189/jogh.13.04112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The evidence regarding the relationship between postnatal exposure of air pollution and child malnutrition indicators, as well as the corresponding urban-rural disparities, is limited, especially in low-pollution area of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Therefore, our aim was to contrast the effect estimates of varying ambient particulate matter (PM) on malnutrition indicators between urban and rural areas in Tibet, China. Methods Six malnutrition indicators were evaluated in this study, namely, Z-scores of height for age (HFA), Z-scores of weight for age (WFA), Z-scores of weight for height (WFH), stunting, underweight, and wasting. Exposure to particles with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 micron (μm) (PM2.5), particles with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10) and particles with an aerodynamic diameter between 2.5 and 10 μm (PMc) was estimated using satellite-based random forest models. Linear regression and logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between PM and the above malnutrition indicators. Furthermore, the effect estimates of different PM were contrasted between urban and rural areas. Results A total of 2511 children under five years old were included in this study. We found long-term exposure to PM2.5, PMc, and PM10 was associated with an increased risk of stunting and a decreased risk of underweight. Of these air pollutants, PMc had the strongest association for Z-scores of HFA and stunting, while PM2.5 had the strongest association for underweight. The results showed that the odds ratio (OR) for stunting were 1.36 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06 to 1.75) per interquartile range (IQR) microgrammes per cubic metre (μg/m3) increase in PM2.5, 1.80 (95% CI = 1.30 to 2.50) per IQR μg/m3 increase in PMc and 1.55 (95% CI = 1.17 to 2.05) per IQR μg/m3 increase in PM10. The concentrations of PM were higher in urban areas, and the effects of PM on malnutrition indicators among urban children were higher than those of rural children. Conclusions Our results suggested that PM exposure might be an important trigger of child malnutrition. Further prospective researches are needed to provide important scientific literature for understanding child malnutrition risk concerning postnatal exposure of air pollutants and formulating synthetically social and environmental policies for malnutrition prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianzhi Li
- Meteorological Medical Research Center, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
- Clinical Medical Research Center, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
- Dali University, Dali, Yunnan Province, China
| | - Yajie Li
- Tibet Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
| | - Bin Yu
- Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, Sichuan University - Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Qucuo Nima
- Tibet Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
| | - Haorong Meng
- Yunnan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
| | - Meiying Shen
- Nursing department, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Zonglei Zhou
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Shunjin Liu
- Meteorological Medical Research Center, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
- Clinical Medical Research Center, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
- Dali University, Dali, Yunnan Province, China
| | - Yunyun Tian
- Clinical Medical Research Center, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
- Dali University, Dali, Yunnan Province, China
| | - Xiangyi Xing
- Meteorological Medical Research Center, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
- Dali University, Dali, Yunnan Province, China
- Department of Pharmacy, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
| | - Li Yin
- Meteorological Medical Research Center, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
- Clinical Medical Research Center, Panzhihua Central Hospital, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, China
- Dali University, Dali, Yunnan Province, China
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Sturgeon JP, Mufukari W, Tome J, Dumbura C, Majo FD, Ngosa D, Chandwe K, Kapoma C, Mutasa K, Nathoo KJ, Bourke CD, Ntozini R, Bwakura-Dangarembizi M, Amadi B, Kelly P, Prendergast AJ. Risk factors for inpatient mortality among children with severe acute malnutrition in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Eur J Clin Nutr 2023; 77:895-904. [PMID: 37553508 PMCID: PMC10473959 DOI: 10.1038/s41430-023-01320-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Malnutrition underlies 45% of deaths in children under-5 years annually. Children hospitalised with complicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) have unacceptably high mortality. We aimed to identify variables from early hospital admission (baseline factors) independently associated with inpatient mortality in this cohort to identify those most at risk. SUBJECTS/METHODS Observational study of 745 children aged 0-59 months admitted with complicated SAM at three hospitals in Zimbabwe/Zambia. Children underwent anthropometry and clinical assessment by a study physician within 72 h of enrolment, and caregivers provided sociodemographic data. Children were followed-up daily until discharge/death. A multivariable survival analysis identified the baseline factors independently associated with mortality. RESULTS 70/745 (9.4%) children died in hospital. Age between 6-23 months [aHR 6.53, 95%CI 2.24-19.02], higher mid-upper arm circumference [aHR 0.73, 95%CI 0.59-0.89], presence of oedema [aHR 2.22, 95%CI 1.23-4.05], shock [aHR 8.18, 95%CI 3.79-17.65], sepsis [aHR 3.13, 95%CI 1.44-6.80], persistent diarrhoea [aHR 2.27, 95%CI 1.18-4.37], lack of a toilet at home [aHR 4.35, 95%CI 1.65-11.47], and recruitment at one Harare site [aHR 0.38, 95%CI 0.18-0.83] were all independently associated with inpatient mortality. Oedematous children had a significantly higher birthweight [2987 g vs 2757 g, p < 0.001] than those without oedema; higher birthweight was weakly associated with mortality [aHR 1.50 95%CI 0.97-2.31]. CONCLUSIONS Children with oedema, low MUAC, baseline infections, shock and lack of home sanitation had a significantly increased risk of inpatient mortality following hospitalisation for complicated SAM. Children with high-risk features may require additional care. A better understanding of the pathophysiology of SAM is needed to identify adjunctive interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan P Sturgeon
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe.
- Centre for Genomics and Child Health, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, 4 Newark Street, London, E1 2AT, UK.
| | - Wadzanai Mufukari
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Joice Tome
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Cherlynn Dumbura
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Florence D Majo
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Deophine Ngosa
- Tropical Gastroenterology and Nutrition Group, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Kanta Chandwe
- Tropical Gastroenterology and Nutrition Group, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Chanda Kapoma
- Tropical Gastroenterology and Nutrition Group, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Kuda Mutasa
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Kusum J Nathoo
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Claire D Bourke
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
- Centre for Genomics and Child Health, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, 4 Newark Street, London, E1 2AT, UK
| | - Robert Ntozini
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Mutsa Bwakura-Dangarembizi
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Beatrice Amadi
- Tropical Gastroenterology and Nutrition Group, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Paul Kelly
- Tropical Gastroenterology and Nutrition Group, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
- Centre for Genomics and Child Health, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, 4 Newark Street, London, E1 2AT, UK
| | - Andrew J Prendergast
- Zvitambo Institute for Maternal and Child Health Research, 16 Lauchlan Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe
- Centre for Genomics and Child Health, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, 4 Newark Street, London, E1 2AT, UK
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Kikuchi M. Influence of sanitation facilities on diarrhea prevalence among children aged below 5 years in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh: a multilevel analysis. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:97925-97935. [PMID: 37603245 PMCID: PMC10495509 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-29373-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
Although the improvement of sanitation facilities has been a major contributor to improving public health, it is not guaranteed to prevent negative health outcomes. This is especially true in areas affected by severe natural disasters, such as flooding or extreme rainfall. Previous studies have examined the association between catastrophic natural disasters and negative health outcomes. However, studies on disaster-prone areas are limited. This study focused on the impact of flood risks and examined whether the improvement of sanitation facilities would be sufficient to suppress the prevalence of diarrhea in flood-prone areas. Two secondary datasets including geodata on flood-prone areas were used for the analysis: one each was obtained from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council. Two models with categorizations of sanitation facilities based on containment type and excreta flow were applied for analysis. Results showed that the severe flood-prone areas and "diffused" type of sanitation, where the feces are diffused without any containment, had significant positive associations with diarrhea prevalence; however, the interaction between them was negative. Moderate flood-prone areas had a significant positive association with diarrhea prevalence; however, the interaction with unimproved sanitation, which includes containment without clear partition from feces, was significantly negative. These findings indicate that improved sanitation or containment type of sanitation may not positively contribute to the prevention of diarrhea in these severe- and moderate-flood prone areas. The urgent need for alternative sanitation technologies should be addressed in flood-prone regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiko Kikuchi
- Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, 277-8561, Japan.
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Rothstein AP, Jesser KJ, Feistel DJ, Konstantinidis KT, Trueba G, Levy K. Population genomics of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli uncovers high connectivity between urban and rural communities in Ecuador. INFECTION, GENETICS AND EVOLUTION : JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES 2023; 113:105476. [PMID: 37392822 PMCID: PMC10599324 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2023.105476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/03/2023]
Abstract
Human movement may be an important driver of transmission dynamics for enteric pathogens but has largely been underappreciated except for international 'travelers' diarrhea or cholera. Phylodynamic methods, which combine genomic and epidemiological data, are used to examine rates and dynamics of disease matching underlying evolutionary history and biogeographic distributions, but these methods often are not applied to enteric bacterial pathogens. We used phylodynamics to explore the phylogeographic and evolutionary patterns of diarrheagenic E. coli in northern Ecuador to investigate the role of human travel in the geographic distribution of strains across the country. Using whole genome sequences of diarrheagenic E. coli isolates, we built a core genome phylogeny, reconstructed discrete ancestral states across urban and rural sites, and estimated migration rates between E. coli populations. We found minimal structuring based on site locations, urban vs. rural locality, pathotype, or clinical status. Ancestral states of phylogenomic nodes and tips were inferred to have 51% urban ancestry and 49% rural ancestry. Lack of structuring by location or pathotype E. coli isolates imply highly connected communities and extensive sharing of genomic characteristics across isolates. Using an approximate structured coalescent model, we estimated rates of migration among circulating isolates were 6.7 times larger for urban towards rural populations compared to rural towards urban populations. This suggests increased inferred migration rates of diarrheagenic E. coli from urban populations towards rural populations. Our results indicate that investments in water and sanitation prevention in urban areas could limit the spread of enteric bacterial pathogens among rural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew P. Rothstein
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kelsey J. Jesser
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Dorian J. Feistel
- School of a Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
- School of a Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Gabriel Trueba
- Instituto de Microbiología, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador
| | - Karen Levy
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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Mertens A, Benjamin-Chung J, Colford JM, Coyle J, van der Laan MJ, Hubbard AE, Rosete S, Malenica I, Hejazi N, Sofrygin O, Cai W, Li H, Nguyen A, Pokpongkiat NN, Djajadi S, Seth A, Jung E, Chung EO, Jilek W, Subramoney V, Hafen R, Häggström J, Norman T, Brown KH, Christian P, Arnold BF. Causes and consequences of child growth faltering in low-resource settings. Nature 2023; 621:568-576. [PMID: 37704722 PMCID: PMC10511328 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06501-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
Growth faltering in children (low length for age or low weight for length) during the first 1,000 days of life (from conception to 2 years of age) influences short-term and long-term health and survival1,2. Interventions such as nutritional supplementation during pregnancy and the postnatal period could help prevent growth faltering, but programmatic action has been insufficient to eliminate the high burden of stunting and wasting in low- and middle-income countries. Identification of age windows and population subgroups on which to focus will benefit future preventive efforts. Here we use a population intervention effects analysis of 33 longitudinal cohorts (83,671 children, 662,763 measurements) and 30 separate exposures to show that improving maternal anthropometry and child condition at birth accounted for population increases in length-for-age z-scores of up to 0.40 and weight-for-length z-scores of up to 0.15 by 24 months of age. Boys had consistently higher risk of all forms of growth faltering than girls. Early postnatal growth faltering predisposed children to subsequent and persistent growth faltering. Children with multiple growth deficits exhibited higher mortality rates from birth to 2 years of age than children without growth deficits (hazard ratios 1.9 to 8.7). The importance of prenatal causes and severe consequences for children who experienced early growth faltering support a focus on pre-conception and pregnancy as a key opportunity for new preventive interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Mertens
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Jade Benjamin-Chung
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - John M Colford
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Jeremy Coyle
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Mark J van der Laan
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Alan E Hubbard
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Sonali Rosete
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Ivana Malenica
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Nima Hejazi
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Oleg Sofrygin
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Wilson Cai
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Haodong Li
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Anna Nguyen
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Nolan N Pokpongkiat
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Stephanie Djajadi
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Anmol Seth
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Esther Jung
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Esther O Chung
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Wendy Jilek
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | - Ryan Hafen
- Hafen Consulting, West Richland, WA, USA
| | | | - Thea Norman
- Quantitative Sciences, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Kenneth H Brown
- Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Parul Christian
- Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Benjamin F Arnold
- Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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Quarpong W, Wakoli S, Oiye S, Williams AM. Interpreting alignment to the EAT-Lancet diet using dietary intakes of lactating mothers in rural Western Kenya. MATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION 2023; 19:e13512. [PMID: 36999246 DOI: 10.1111/mcn.13512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The EAT-Lancet reference diet intends to be good for planetary and human health. We compared single multiple pass method 24-h dietary intake of mothers (n = 242) from a cross-sectional study in Western Kenya to the recommended range of intake of 11 EAT-Lancet food groups (e.g., 0-100 g/day legumes; maximum score 11), defining alignment two ways: daily intake among food groups where a minimum intake of 0 g was either acceptable or unacceptable. Ordinal logistic regression models assessed associations between alignment and body mass index (BMI). Cost of mothers' diets and hypothetical diets within recommended ranges (lower bounds >0 g) were estimated using food price data from markets within the mothers' locality. Mean energy intake was 1827 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1731-1924) kcal/day. Relative to the EAT-Lancet diet, mothers' diets were on average higher for grains; within recommendations for tubers, fish, beef and dairy; closer to lower bounds for chicken, eggs, legumes and nuts; and lower for fruits and vegetables. Mean (95% CI) alignment scores were 8.2 (8.0-8.3) when 0 g intakes were acceptable and 1.7 (1.6-1.9) otherwise. No significant associations were found between alignment and BMI. Mothers' diets and hypothetical diets within recommended ranges averaged 184.6 KES (1.6 USD) and 357.5 KES (3.0 USD)/person/day, respectively. Lactating mothers' diets were not diverse and diverged from the reference diet when an intake of 0 g was considered unacceptable. Lower bound intakes of 0 g for micronutrient-dense food groups are inappropriate in food-insecure populations. It would likely cost more than mothers currently spend to tailor their diets to the EAT-Lancet reference diet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wilhemina Quarpong
- Nutrition and Health Sciences, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Shadrack Oiye
- Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Djibouti City, Djibouti
| | - Anne M Williams
- Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Division of Sciences, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Fontaine F, Turjeman S, Callens K, Koren O. The intersection of undernutrition, microbiome, and child development in the first years of life. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3554. [PMID: 37322020 PMCID: PMC10272168 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39285-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Undernutrition affects about one out of five children worldwide. It is associated with impaired growth, neurodevelopment deficits, and increased infectious morbidity and mortality. Undernutrition, however, cannot be solely attributed to a lack of food or nutrient deficiency but rather results from a complex mix of biological and environmental factors. Recent research has shown that the gut microbiome is intimately involved in the metabolism of dietary components, in growth, in the training of the immune system, and in healthy development. In this review, we look at these features in the first three years of life, which is a critical window for both microbiome establishment and maturation and child development. We also discuss the potential of the microbiome in undernutrition interventions, which could increase efficacy and improve child health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanette Fontaine
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
- Université Paris- Cité, 75006, Paris, France
| | - Sondra Turjeman
- Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel
| | - Karel Callens
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
| | - Omry Koren
- Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel.
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Holcomb DA, Monteiro V, Capone D, António V, Chiluvane M, Cumbane V, Ismael N, Knee J, Kowalsky E, Lai A, Linden Y, Mataveia E, Nala R, Rao G, Ribeiro J, Cumming O, Viegas E, Brown J. Long-term impacts of an urban sanitation intervention on enteric pathogens in children in Maputo city, Mozambique: study protocol for a cross-sectional follow-up to the Maputo Sanitation (MapSan) trial 5 years postintervention. BMJ Open 2023; 13:e067941. [PMID: 37290945 PMCID: PMC10254709 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION We previously assessed the effect of an onsite sanitation intervention in informal neighbourhoods of urban Maputo, Mozambique on enteric pathogen detection in children after 2 years of follow-up (Maputo Sanitation (MapSan) trial, ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02362932). We found significant reductions in Shigella and Trichuris prevalence but only among children born after the intervention was delivered. In this study, we assess the health impacts of the sanitation intervention after 5 years among children born into study households postintervention. METHODS AND ANALYSIS We are conducting a cross-sectional household study of enteric pathogen detection in child stool and the environment at compounds (household clusters sharing sanitation and outdoor living space) that received the pour-flush toilet and septic tank intervention at least 5 years prior or meet the original criteria for trial control sites. We are enrolling at least 400 children (ages 29 days to 60 months) in each treatment arm. Our primary outcome is the prevalence of 22 bacterial, protozoan, and soil transmitted helminth enteric pathogens in child stool using the pooled prevalence ratio across the outcome set to assess the overall intervention effect. Secondary outcomes include the individual pathogen detection prevalence and gene copy density of 27 enteric pathogens (including viruses); mean height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height z-scores; prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting; and the 7-day period prevalence of caregiver-reported diarrhoea. All analyses are adjusted for prespecified covariates and examined for effect measure modification by age. Environmental samples from study households and the public domain are assessed for pathogens and faecal indicators to explore environmental exposures and monitor disease transmission. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION Study protocols have been reviewed and approved by human subjects review boards at the Ministry of Health, Republic of Mozambique and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Deidentified study data will be deposited at https://osf.io/e7pvk/. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER ISRCTN86084138.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Holcomb
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Vanessa Monteiro
- Centro de Investigação e Treino em Saúde da Polana Caniço, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Drew Capone
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Virgílio António
- Division of Biotechnology and Genetics, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Marracuene, Mozambique
| | - Márcia Chiluvane
- Centro de Investigação e Treino em Saúde da Polana Caniço, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Victória Cumbane
- Centro de Investigação e Treino em Saúde da Polana Caniço, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Nália Ismael
- Division of Biotechnology and Genetics, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Marracuene, Mozambique
| | - Jackie Knee
- Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Erin Kowalsky
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Amanda Lai
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Yarrow Linden
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Elly Mataveia
- Centro de Investigação e Treino em Saúde da Polana Caniço, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Rassul Nala
- Division of Parasitology, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Gouthami Rao
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Jorge Ribeiro
- Centro de Investigação e Treino em Saúde da Polana Caniço, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Oliver Cumming
- Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Edna Viegas
- Centro de Investigação e Treino em Saúde da Polana Caniço, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Joe Brown
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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Arnold BF, Rerolle F, Tedijanto C, Njenga SM, Rahman M, Ercumen A, Mertens A, Pickering A, Lin A, Arnold CD, Das K, Stewart CP, Null C, Luby SP, Colford JM, Hubbard AE, Benjamin-Chung J. Geographic pair-matching in large-scale cluster randomized trials. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.04.30.23289317. [PMID: 37205361 PMCID: PMC10187339 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.30.23289317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Custer randomized trials are often used to study large-scale public health interventions. In large trials, even small improvements in statistical efficiency can have profound impacts on the required sample size and cost. Pair matched randomization is one strategy with potential to increase trial efficiency, but to our knowledge there have been no empirical evaluations of pair-matching in large-scale, epidemiologic field trials. Location integrates many socio-demographic and environmental characteristics into a single feature. Here, we show that geographic pair-matching leads to substantial gains in statistical efficiency for 14 child health outcomes that span growth, development, and infectious disease through a re-analysis of two large-scale trials of nutritional and environmental interventions in Bangladesh and Kenya. We estimate relative efficiencies ≥1.1 for all outcomes assessed and relative efficiencies regularly exceed 2.0, meaning an unmatched trial would have needed to enroll at least twice as many clusters to achieve the same level of precision as the geographically pair-matched design. We also show that geographically pair-matched designs enable estimation of fine-scale, spatially varying effect heterogeneity under minimal assumptions. Our results demonstrate broad, substantial benefits of geographic pair-matching in large-scale, cluster randomized trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin F. Arnold
- Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Francois Rerolle
- Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Christine Tedijanto
- Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Sammy M. Njenga
- Eastern and Southern Africa Centre of International Parasite Control, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Mahbubur Rahman
- Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Ayse Ercumen
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Andrew Mertens
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Amy Pickering
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA
| | - Audrie Lin
- Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | | | - Kishor Das
- School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | | | | | - Stephen P. Luby
- Infectious diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California
| | - John M. Colford
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Alan E. Hubbard
- Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Jade Benjamin-Chung
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, CA, USA
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47
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Powers JE, Mureithi M, Mboya J, Campolo J, Swarthout JM, Pajka J, Null C, Pickering AJ. Effects of High Temperature and Heavy Precipitation on Drinking Water Quality and Child Hand Contamination Levels in Rural Kenya. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:6975-6988. [PMID: 37071701 PMCID: PMC10157894 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c07284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Climate change may impact human health through the influence of weather on environmental transmission of diarrhea. Previous studies have found that high temperatures and heavy precipitation are associated with increased diarrhea prevalence, but the underlying causal mechanisms have not been tested and validated. We linked measurements of Escherichia coli in source water (n = 1673), stored drinking water (n = 9692), and hand rinses from children <2 years old (n = 2634) with publicly available gridded temperature and precipitation data (at ≤0.2 degree spatial resolution and daily temporal resolution) by the GPS coordinates and date of sample collection. Measurements were collected over a 3-year period across a 2500 km2 area in rural Kenya. In drinking water sources, high 7-day temperature was associated with a 0.16 increase in log10 E. coli levels (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.24), while heavy 7-day total precipitation was associated with a 0.29 increase in log10 E. coli levels (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.44). In household stored drinking water, heavy 7-day precipitation was associated with a 0.079 increase in log10 E. coli levels (p = 0.042, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.24). Heavy precipitation did not increase E. coli levels among respondents who treated their water, suggesting that water treatment can mitigate effects on water quality. On child hands, high 7-day temperature was associated with a 0.39 decrease in log10 E. coli levels (p < 0.001, 95% CI: -0.52, -0.27). Our findings provide insight on how climate change could impact environmental transmission of bacterial pathogens in Kenya. We suggest water treatment is especially important after heavy precipitation (particularly when preceded by dry periods) and high temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie E Powers
- University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
| | - Maryanne Mureithi
- Innovations for Poverty Action, Sandalwood Lane, Nairobi 00500, Kenya
| | - John Mboya
- Innovations for Poverty Action, Sandalwood Lane, Nairobi 00500, Kenya
| | - Jake Campolo
- Farmers Business Network, San Carlos, California 94070, United States
| | | | - Joseph Pajka
- Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Clair Null
- Mathematica, Washington, D.C. 20002, United States
| | - Amy J Pickering
- University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94704, United States
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
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Jensen PKM, Hossain ZZ, Sultana R, Ferdous J, Almeida S, Begum A. Introduction of the Personal Domain in Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), a New Approach to Identify Missing Health Impacts. Trop Med Infect Dis 2023; 8:tropicalmed8050252. [PMID: 37235300 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed8050252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector has provided beneficiaries in low and middle-income countries with latrines and clean water for decades. However, we still need good evidence documenting the expected health impact. This paper investigates why we lack this evidence and ways to move forward. Using mTEC agar, we monitored E. coli contamination on selected "hotspot" surfaces within the kitchen environments of 32 low-income households in Dhaka, Bangladesh, every six weeks for two years. Despite being washed, the highest average contamination was found on food plates, at 253 cfu/10 cm2, followed by cutting knives, with 240 cfu/10 cm2. The drinking vessel surfaces and the latrine doorknobs had the lowest contaminations, with E. coli means of 167 and 73 cfu/10 cm2, respectively. These findings imply a need to measure an individual's pathogen exposure as close to the mouth as possible to estimate the true pathogen exposure. The paper proposes introducing the new "personal domain"-the point of consumption-as the physical sphere in which WASH interventions should be assessed. With this approach, we can observe and quantify the different pathogen exposure routes and, with this, further improve WASH interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Kjær Mackie Jensen
- Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, Global Health Section, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, Building 22, 1014 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Zenat Zebin Hossain
- Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, Global Health Section, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, Building 22, 1014 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Microbiology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
- Department of Public Health, School of Pharmacy and Public Health, Independent University, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh
| | - Rebeca Sultana
- Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, Global Health Section, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, Building 22, 1014 Copenhagen, Denmark
- icddr,b, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
- Institute of Health Economics, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Jannatul Ferdous
- Department of Microbiology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Sara Almeida
- Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, Global Health Section, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, Building 22, 1014 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anowara Begum
- Department of Microbiology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
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Changes in water treatment, hygiene practices, household floors, and child health in times of Covid-19: A longitudinal cross-sectional survey in Surkhet District, Nepal. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2023; 249:114138. [PMID: 36821912 PMCID: PMC9925420 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Consistent and effective practice of water treatment, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) behaviour is an indispensable requisite for realizing health improvements among children living in low-income areas with challenging hygienic conditions. Sustainably achieving such a behaviour change is challenging but more likely to be realized during epidemics, when health threats are high and the dissemination of information on preventative measures is intense. Our study conducted cross-sectional surveys in Surkhet District Nepal, before and during the Covid-19 pandemic to assess the impact of water safety interventions and hygiene training implemented before and during the pandemic on WASH conditions and practices and to assess the association of these changes with child health. METHODS Information on WASH infrastructure, WASH behaviour, nutrition, and child health, including on parasitic infections, was obtained before and during the Covid-19 pandemic in spring 2018 and spring 2021, from 589 children aged between 6 months and 10 years and their caregivers. Data was collected through quantitative, structured face-to-face interviews, observations, health examinations of children including anthropometric measurements, analysis of children's stool, and water quality analysis. The association of changes in WASH factors with changes in child health was analysed using multivariate generalized estimating equations for repeated measures. RESULTS Water safety management was significantly improved by the introduction of chlorination to piped water supply systems, which served 40% of households. In addition, the percentage of households using a ceramic water filter increased from 12.2% to 34.8%. Large and significant changes were observed in handwashing behaviour (frequency, use of soap and washing at critical times) and infrastructure: 35% of households constructed a new handwashing station. Kitchen and household hygiene also improved. An additional 22% of households improved the cleanliness of the toilet. The number of houses with a cemented floor increased by 20%. WASH changes were significantly associated with improved child health: the chlorination of piped water supply reduced odds ratios for diarrhoea (OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.15-0.88, p = 0.025), respiratory difficulties (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.16-0.92, p = 0.033), fever (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.26-0.71, p = 0.001) and cough (OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.36-0.93, p = 0.024), and. The frequency of handwashing with soap was associated with significantly reduced odds ratios for infections with Giardia lamblia (OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.50-0.91, p = 0.011), stunting and wasting (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.66-0.92, p = 0.003) and fever (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.75-0.96, p = 0.008),. The presence of a handwashing station at baseline was associated with significantly reduced odds ratios for respiratory difficulties (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.26-0.78, p = 0.004). The construction of a handwashing station between baseline and endline was significantly associated with reduced odds ratios for pale conjunctiva (OR = 0.32, 95% CI = 0.17-0.60, p < 0.001), which is a clinical sign of iron deficiency and anaemia, respiratory difficulties (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.17-0.89, p = 0.026) and cough (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.26-0.76, p = 0.003). Using a clean container for the transport of drinking water was significantly associated with reduced odds ratios for infections with Giardia lamblia (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.16-0.93, p = 0.033) and diarrhoea (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.24-0.96, p = 0.038). Similarly, a cemented floor in the household was significantly associated with reduced odd ratios for diarrhoea (OR = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.16-0.87, p = 0.022) and infections with Giardia lamblia (OR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.19-1.02, p = 0.056). CONCLUSION WASH training and the promotion of preventative measures during the Covid-19 pandemic supported improved water safety management and hygiene behaviour, which resulted in a reduction in infectious diseases among children in the study area.
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50
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Levy K, Garn JV, Cumbe ZA, Muneme B, Fagnant-Sperati CS, Hubbard S, Júnior A, Manuel JL, Mangamela M, McGunegill S, Miller-Petrie MK, Snyder JS, Victor C, Waller LA, Konstantinidis KT, Clasen TF, Brown J, Nalá R, Freeman MC. Study design and rationale for the PAASIM project: a matched cohort study on urban water supply improvements and infant enteric pathogen infection, gut microbiome development and health in Mozambique. BMJ Open 2023; 13:e067341. [PMID: 36863743 PMCID: PMC9990653 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/04/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Despite clear linkages between provision of clean water and improvements in child health, limited information exists about the health impacts of large water infrastructure improvements in low-income settings. Billions of dollars are spent annually to improve urban water supply, and rigorous evaluation of these improvements, especially targeting informal settlements, is critical to guide policy and investment strategies. Objective measures of infection and exposure to pathogens, and measures of gut function, are needed to understand the effectiveness and impact of water supply improvements. METHODS AND ANALYSIS In the PAASIM study, we examine the impact of water system improvements on acute and chronic health outcomes in children in a low-income urban area of Beira, Mozambique, comprising 62 sub-neighbourhoods and ~26 300 households. This prospective matched cohort study follows 548 mother-child dyads from late pregnancy through 12 months of age. Primary outcomes include measures of enteric pathogen infections, gut microbiome composition and source drinking water microbiological quality, measured at the child's 12-month visit. Additional outcomes include diarrhoea prevalence, child growth, previous enteric pathogen exposure, child mortality and various measures of water access and quality. Our analyses will compare (1) subjects living in sub-neighbourhoods with the improved water to those living in sub-neighbourhoods without these improvements; and (2) subjects with household water connections on their premises to those without such a connection. This study will provide critical information to understand how to optimise investments for improving child health, filling the information gap about the impact of piped water provision to low-income urban households, using novel gastrointestinal disease outcomes. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION This study was approved by the Emory University Institutional Review Board and the National Bio-Ethics Committee for Health in Mozambique. The pre-analysis plan is published on the Open Science Framework platform (https://osf.io/4rkn6/). Results will be shared with relevant stakeholders locally, and through publications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Levy
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington, USA
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Joshua V Garn
- Division of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | | | | | - Christine S Fagnant-Sperati
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Sydney Hubbard
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - João Luís Manuel
- Beira Operations Research Center, National Health Institute (INS), Ministry of Health of Mozambique, Beira, Mozambique
| | | | - Sandy McGunegill
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Molly K Miller-Petrie
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Jedidiah S Snyder
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Courtney Victor
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Lance A Waller
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Thomas F Clasen
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Joe Brown
- Environmental Science and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Rassul Nalá
- Ministry of Health, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Marracuene, Mozambique
| | - Matthew C Freeman
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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