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

IntroductionWe 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 analysisWe 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 disseminationStudy 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 numberISRCTN86084138.

Automated summary

This study examines the health impacts of an onsite sanitation intervention after 5 years among children born into study households in Maputo, Mozambique. Significant reductions in Shigella and Trichuris prevalence were found among children born after the intervention. The study also evaluates other pathogen detection prevalence and environmental exposures, as well as monitoring disease transmission.