2 research outputs found
Quality of Drinking-water at Source and Point-ofconsumption\u2014 Drinking Cup As a High Potential Recontamination Risk: A Field Study in Bolivia
In-house contamination of drinking-water is a persistent problem in
developing countries. This study aimed at identifying critical points
of contamination and determining the extent of recontamination after
water treatment. In total, 81 households were visited, and 347 water
samples from their current sources of water, transport vessels, treated
water, and drinking vessels were analyzed. The quality of water was
assessed using Escherichia coli as an indicator for faecal
contamination. The concentration of E. coli increased significantly
from the water source [median=0 colony-forming unit (CFU)/100 mL,
interquartile range (IQR: 0-13)] to the drinking cup (median=8 CFU/100
mL; IQR: 0-550; n=81, z=-3.7, p<0.001). About two-thirds (34/52) of
drinking vessels were contaminated with E. coli. Although boiling and
solar disinfection of water (SODIS) improved the quality of
drinking-water (median=0 CFU/100 mL; IQR: 0-0.05), recontamination at
the point-of-consumption significantly reduced the quality of water in
the cups (median=8, IQR: 0-500; n=45, z=-2.4, p=0.015). Home-based
interventions in disinfection of water may not guarantee health
benefits without complementary hygiene education due to the risk of
posttreatment contamination
Reporting Diarrhoea through a Vernacular Term in Quechua-speaking Settings of Rural Bolivia
Field studies often usecaregiver-reporteddiarrhoeaandrelatedsymptoms to
measure childmorbidity.There are various vernacular terms to define
diarrhoea that vary across the local cultural contexts. The
relationship between vernacular definitions of diarrhoea and
symptoms-based definitions is not well-documented. This paper describes
the association of the vernacular Quechua term k\u2019echalera with
the symptoms-based standard definition of diarrhoea in rural Bolivian
settings. During a cluster randomized trial in rural Bolivia, both
signs and symptoms of diarrhoea and reports of k\u2019echalera were
collected for children aged less than five years. Reported
k\u2019echalera were found to be associated with important changes in
stool frequency, consistency, and presence of blood and mucus. Reported
k\u2019echalera were highly related to three of four recorded
categories of watery stool. The intermediate (milk-rice) stool
consistency, which fits into the definition of watery stool, was not
strongly related to k\u2019echalera. Mucus in the stool was also
associated with k\u2019echalera; however, its presence in
k\u2019echalera-free days accounted for at least 50% of the possible
false negatives. The sensitivity and specificity of the term
k\u2019echalera were estimated by Bayesian methods, allowing for both
symptoms of diarrhoea and reports of k\u2019echalera to be subject to
diagnosis error. An average specificity of at least 97% and the
sensitivity of at least 50% were obtained. The findings suggest that
the use of k\u2019echalera would identify fewer cases of diarrhoea
than a symptom-based definition in rural Bolivia