Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
Volume 96, Issue 3, Pages 569-575Publisher
AMER SOC TROP MED & HYGIENE
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0543
Keywords
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Funding
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program [DGE-1144245]
- Safe Global Water Institute (SGWI)
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Diarrhea is a leading cause of mortality in children under 5 years of age. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 54 children aged 3 months to 5 years old in Kibera, an urban slum in Nairobi, Kenya, to assess the relationship between caregiver-reported soil ingestion and child diarrhea. Diarrhea was significantly associated with soil ingestion (adjusted odds ratio = 9.9, 95% confidence interval = 2.1-47.5). Soil samples from locations near each household were also collected and analyzed for Escherichia coli and a human-associated Bacteroides fecal marker (HF183). Escherichia coli was detected in 100% of soil samples (mean 5.5 log colony forming units E. coli per gram of dry soil) and the Bacteroides fecal marker HF183 was detected in 93% of soil samples. These findings suggest that soil ingestion may be an important transmission pathway for diarrheal disease in urban slum settings.
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