Jade Benjamin-Chung1, Yoshika S Crider2, Andrew Mertens3, Ayse Ercumen4, Amy J Pickering5, Audrie Lin3, Lauren Steinbaum6, Jenna Swarthout5, Mahbubur Rahman7, Sarker M Parvez7, Rashidul Haque7, Sammy M Njenga8, Jimmy Kihara8, Clair Null9, Stephen P Luby10, John M Colford3, Benjamin F Arnold11. 1. Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. Electronic address: jadebc@berkeley.edu. 2. Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA; Energy & Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. 3. Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. 4. Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA. 5. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA. 6. Exponent, Sacramento, CA, USA. 7. International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 8. Eastern and Southern Africa Centre of International Parasite Control, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. 9. Center for International Policy Research and Evaluation, Mathematica Policy Research, Washington, DC, USA. 10. Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. 11. Francis I Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Soil-transmitted helminths and Giardia duodenalis are responsible for a large burden of disease globally. In low-resource settings, household finished floors (eg, concrete floors) might reduce transmission of soil-transmitted helminths and G duodenalis. METHODS: In a prospective cohort of children nested within two randomised trials in rural Bangladesh and Kenya, we estimated associations between household finished flooring and soil-transmitted helminths and G duodenalis prevalence. In 2015-16, we collected stool samples from children aged 2-16 years in rural Bangladesh and Kenya. We detected soil-transmitted helminth infection using quantitative PCR (qPCR; Bangladesh n=2800; Kenya n=3094), and G duodenalis using qPCR in Bangladesh (n=6894) and ELISA in Kenya (n=8899). We estimated adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) using log-linear models adjusted for potential confounders. FINDINGS: 7187 (92·2%) of 7795 children in Bangladesh and 9077 (93·7%) of 9686 children in Kenya provided stool specimens that were analysed by qPCR. At enrolment, 691 (10%) households in Bangladesh and 471 (5%) households in Kenya had finished floors. In both countries, household finished flooring was associated with lower Ascaris lumbricoides prevalence (Bangladesh aPR 0·33, 95% CI 0·14-0·78; Kenya 0·62, 0·39-0·98) and any soil-transmitted helminths (Bangladesh 0·73, 0·52-1·01; Kenya 0·57, 0·37-0·88). Household finished floors were also associated with lower Necator americanus prevalence in Bangladesh (0·52, 0·29-0·94) and G duodenalis prevalence in both countries (Bangladesh 0·78, 0·64-0·95; Kenya 0·82, 0·70-0·97). INTERPRETATION: In low-resource settings, living in households with finished floors over a 2-year period was associated with lower prevalence of G duodenalis and some soil-transmitted helminths in children. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Task Force for Global Health.
BACKGROUND: Soil-transmitted helminths and Giardia duodenalis are responsible for a large burden of disease globally. In low-resource settings, household finished floors (eg, concrete floors) might reduce transmission of soil-transmitted helminths and G duodenalis. METHODS: In a prospective cohort of children nested within two randomised trials in rural Bangladesh and Kenya, we estimated associations between household finished flooring and soil-transmitted helminths and G duodenalis prevalence. In 2015-16, we collected stool samples from children aged 2-16 years in rural Bangladesh and Kenya. We detected soil-transmitted helminth infection using quantitative PCR (qPCR; Bangladesh n=2800; Kenya n=3094), and G duodenalis using qPCR in Bangladesh (n=6894) and ELISA in Kenya (n=8899). We estimated adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) using log-linear models adjusted for potential confounders. FINDINGS: 7187 (92·2%) of 7795 children in Bangladesh and 9077 (93·7%) of 9686 children in Kenya provided stool specimens that were analysed by qPCR. At enrolment, 691 (10%) households in Bangladesh and 471 (5%) households in Kenya had finished floors. In both countries, household finished flooring was associated with lower Ascaris lumbricoides prevalence (Bangladesh aPR 0·33, 95% CI 0·14-0·78; Kenya 0·62, 0·39-0·98) and any soil-transmitted helminths (Bangladesh 0·73, 0·52-1·01; Kenya 0·57, 0·37-0·88). Household finished floors were also associated with lower Necator americanus prevalence in Bangladesh (0·52, 0·29-0·94) and G duodenalis prevalence in both countries (Bangladesh 0·78, 0·64-0·95; Kenya 0·82, 0·70-0·97). INTERPRETATION: In low-resource settings, living in households with finished floors over a 2-year period was associated with lower prevalence of G duodenalis and some soil-transmitted helminths in children. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Task Force for Global Health.
Authors: Ben Bar-Sadeh; Or E Amichai; Lilach Pnueli; Khurshida Begum; Gregory Leeman; Richard D Emes; Reinhard Stöger; Gillian R Bentley; Philippa Melamed Journal: BMC Biol Date: 2022-01-07 Impact factor: 7.431
Authors: Jarir At Thobari; Asal Wahyuni Erlin Mulyadi; Emma Watts; Natalie Carvalho; Frédéric Debellut; Andrew Clark; Yati Soenarto; Julie E Bines Journal: Lancet Reg Health West Pac Date: 2021-12-13