title: Soil Ingestion is Associated with Child Diarrhea in an Urban Slum of Nairobi, Kenya.
abstract: 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 forEscherichia coliand a human-associatedBacteroidesfecal marker (HF183).Escherichia coliwas detected in 100% of soil samples (mean 5.5 log colony forming unitsE. coliper gram of dry soil) and theBacteroidesfecal 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bauza
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Ocharo
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.
authors.forename: Thanh H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.
authors.forename: Jeremy S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Guest
mesh_terms: D001439:Bacteroides / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004435:Eating; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012987:Soil