title: Impact of locally-produced, ceramic cookstoves on respiratory disease in children in rural western Kenya.
abstract: Household air pollution is a risk factor for pneumonia, the leading cause of death among children < 5 years of age. From 2008 to 2010, a Kenyan organization sold ≈ 2,500 ceramic cookstoves (upesi jiko) that produce less visible household smoke than 3-stone firepits. During a year-long observational study, we made 25 biweekly visits to 200 homes to determine stove use and observe signs of acute respiratory infection in children < 3 years of age. Reported stove use included 3-stone firepit only (81.8%), upesi jiko only (15.7%), and both (2.3%). Lower, but not statistically significant, percentages of children in upesi jiko-using households than 3-stone firepit-using households had observed cough (1.3% versus 2.9%, rate ratio [RR] 0.48, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.22-1.03), pneumonia (0.9% versus 1.7%, RR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.24-1.48), and severe pneumonia (0.3% versus 0.6%, RR 0.66, 95% CI: 0.17-2.62). Upesi jiko use did not result in significantly lower pneumonia rates. Further research on the health impact of improved cookstoves is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. efooter@gmail.com
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Foote
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gieraltowski
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ayers
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sadumah
authors.forename: Sitnah Hamidah
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Faith
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Silk
authors.forename: Adam L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Were
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Quick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002516:Ceramics; D002648:Child; D003296:Cooking; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012424:Rural Population