Cargando…

Microbiological contamination of young children’s hands in rural Bangladesh: Associations with child age and observed hand cleanliness as proxy

BACKGROUND: Hands are a route of transmission for fecal-oral pathogens. This analysis aimed to assess associations between hand E. coli contamination and child age and determine if observed hand cleanliness can serve as a proxy for E. coli contamination on young children’s hands. METHODS: Trained fi...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Parvez, Sarker Masud, Azad, Rashidul, Pickering, Amy J., Kwong, Laura H., Arnold, Benjamin F., Rahman, Musarrat Jabeen, Rahman, Md. Zahidur, Alam, Mahfuja, Sen, Debashis, Islam, Sharmin, Rahman, Mahbubur, Colford, John M., Luby, Stephen P., Unicomb, Leanne, Ercumen, Ayse
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6736272/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31504064
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222355
_version_ 1783450485883142144
author Parvez, Sarker Masud
Azad, Rashidul
Pickering, Amy J.
Kwong, Laura H.
Arnold, Benjamin F.
Rahman, Musarrat Jabeen
Rahman, Md. Zahidur
Alam, Mahfuja
Sen, Debashis
Islam, Sharmin
Rahman, Mahbubur
Colford, John M.
Luby, Stephen P.
Unicomb, Leanne
Ercumen, Ayse
author_facet Parvez, Sarker Masud
Azad, Rashidul
Pickering, Amy J.
Kwong, Laura H.
Arnold, Benjamin F.
Rahman, Musarrat Jabeen
Rahman, Md. Zahidur
Alam, Mahfuja
Sen, Debashis
Islam, Sharmin
Rahman, Mahbubur
Colford, John M.
Luby, Stephen P.
Unicomb, Leanne
Ercumen, Ayse
author_sort Parvez, Sarker Masud
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Hands are a route of transmission for fecal-oral pathogens. This analysis aimed to assess associations between hand E. coli contamination and child age and determine if observed hand cleanliness can serve as a proxy for E. coli contamination on young children’s hands. METHODS: Trained field workers collected hand rinse samples from children aged 1–14 months in 584 households in rural Bangladesh and assessed the visual cleanliness of child hands (fingernails, finger pads and palms). Samples were analyzed using the IDEXX most probable number (MPN) methodto enumerate E. coli. We assessed if child age (immobile children aged 1–4 months vs. mobile children aged 5–14 months) is associated with log(10) E. coli counts on hands using generalized estimating equations (GEE). We estimated the log(10) difference in hand E. coli counts associated with the cleanliness of different hand parts using a multivariable GEE model.We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for dirty fingernails, fingerpads, palms and overall hands (the three observed parts combined) against binary E. coli presence on hands. RESULTS: E. coli was detected on 43% of child hands. Children in the mobile age range had 0.17 log(10) MPN higher E. coli on hands than those in the immobile age range (Δlog(10) = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.02, 0.32, p = 0.03). Children with visible dirt particles on finger pads had 0.46 log(10) MPN higher E. coli on hands than those with clean finger pads (Δlog(10) = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.87, p = 0.03). Dirty fingernails indicated binary E. coli presence with 81% sensitivity and 26% specificity while dirty fingerpads and palms indicated E. coli presence with 29% sensitivity and 75–77% specificity. The PPV was 45–48% and NPV 59–65% for all three types of observations. CONCLUSION: Hand contamination with E. coli was prevalent among young children in rural Bangladesh, with higher levels of contamination among mobile children. Studies should assess if strategies to remove animal feces from the courtyard, provide designated hygienic play spaces for children and deliver targeted messaging to mothers to wipe or wash children’s hands after contact with animals and animal feces reduce child hand contamination. Visible hand cleanliness was a poor predictor of E. coli presence on young children’s hands so other low-cost field measurements are needed to accurately detect fecal contamination on hands.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6736272
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-67362722019-09-20 Microbiological contamination of young children’s hands in rural Bangladesh: Associations with child age and observed hand cleanliness as proxy Parvez, Sarker Masud Azad, Rashidul Pickering, Amy J. Kwong, Laura H. Arnold, Benjamin F. Rahman, Musarrat Jabeen Rahman, Md. Zahidur Alam, Mahfuja Sen, Debashis Islam, Sharmin Rahman, Mahbubur Colford, John M. Luby, Stephen P. Unicomb, Leanne Ercumen, Ayse PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Hands are a route of transmission for fecal-oral pathogens. This analysis aimed to assess associations between hand E. coli contamination and child age and determine if observed hand cleanliness can serve as a proxy for E. coli contamination on young children’s hands. METHODS: Trained field workers collected hand rinse samples from children aged 1–14 months in 584 households in rural Bangladesh and assessed the visual cleanliness of child hands (fingernails, finger pads and palms). Samples were analyzed using the IDEXX most probable number (MPN) methodto enumerate E. coli. We assessed if child age (immobile children aged 1–4 months vs. mobile children aged 5–14 months) is associated with log(10) E. coli counts on hands using generalized estimating equations (GEE). We estimated the log(10) difference in hand E. coli counts associated with the cleanliness of different hand parts using a multivariable GEE model.We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for dirty fingernails, fingerpads, palms and overall hands (the three observed parts combined) against binary E. coli presence on hands. RESULTS: E. coli was detected on 43% of child hands. Children in the mobile age range had 0.17 log(10) MPN higher E. coli on hands than those in the immobile age range (Δlog(10) = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.02, 0.32, p = 0.03). Children with visible dirt particles on finger pads had 0.46 log(10) MPN higher E. coli on hands than those with clean finger pads (Δlog(10) = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.87, p = 0.03). Dirty fingernails indicated binary E. coli presence with 81% sensitivity and 26% specificity while dirty fingerpads and palms indicated E. coli presence with 29% sensitivity and 75–77% specificity. The PPV was 45–48% and NPV 59–65% for all three types of observations. CONCLUSION: Hand contamination with E. coli was prevalent among young children in rural Bangladesh, with higher levels of contamination among mobile children. Studies should assess if strategies to remove animal feces from the courtyard, provide designated hygienic play spaces for children and deliver targeted messaging to mothers to wipe or wash children’s hands after contact with animals and animal feces reduce child hand contamination. Visible hand cleanliness was a poor predictor of E. coli presence on young children’s hands so other low-cost field measurements are needed to accurately detect fecal contamination on hands. Public Library of Science 2019-09-10 /pmc/articles/PMC6736272/ /pubmed/31504064 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222355 Text en © 2019 Parvez et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Parvez, Sarker Masud
Azad, Rashidul
Pickering, Amy J.
Kwong, Laura H.
Arnold, Benjamin F.
Rahman, Musarrat Jabeen
Rahman, Md. Zahidur
Alam, Mahfuja
Sen, Debashis
Islam, Sharmin
Rahman, Mahbubur
Colford, John M.
Luby, Stephen P.
Unicomb, Leanne
Ercumen, Ayse
Microbiological contamination of young children’s hands in rural Bangladesh: Associations with child age and observed hand cleanliness as proxy
title Microbiological contamination of young children’s hands in rural Bangladesh: Associations with child age and observed hand cleanliness as proxy
title_full Microbiological contamination of young children’s hands in rural Bangladesh: Associations with child age and observed hand cleanliness as proxy
title_fullStr Microbiological contamination of young children’s hands in rural Bangladesh: Associations with child age and observed hand cleanliness as proxy
title_full_unstemmed Microbiological contamination of young children’s hands in rural Bangladesh: Associations with child age and observed hand cleanliness as proxy
title_short Microbiological contamination of young children’s hands in rural Bangladesh: Associations with child age and observed hand cleanliness as proxy
title_sort microbiological contamination of young children’s hands in rural bangladesh: associations with child age and observed hand cleanliness as proxy
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6736272/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31504064
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222355
work_keys_str_mv AT parvezsarkermasud microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT azadrashidul microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT pickeringamyj microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT kwonglaurah microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT arnoldbenjaminf microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT rahmanmusarratjabeen microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT rahmanmdzahidur microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT alammahfuja microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT sendebashis microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT islamsharmin microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT rahmanmahbubur microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT colfordjohnm microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT lubystephenp microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT unicombleanne microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy
AT ercumenayse microbiologicalcontaminationofyoungchildrenshandsinruralbangladeshassociationswithchildageandobservedhandcleanlinessasproxy