Background. Diarrhea is a leading cause of illness and death among children aged <5 years in developing countries. This paper describes the clinical and epidemiological methods used to conduct the ...Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS), a 3-year, prospective, age-stratified, case/control study to estimate the population-based burden, microbiologic etiology, and adverse clinical consequences of acute moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) among a censused population of children aged 0-59 months seeking care at health centers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Methods. GEMS was conducted at 7 field sites, each serving a population whose demography and healthcare utilization practices for childhood diarrhea were documented. We aimed to enroll 220 MSD cases per year from selected health centers serving each site in each of 3 age strata (0-11, 12-23, and 24-59 months), along with 1-3 matched community controls. Cases and controls supplied clinical, epidemiologic, and anthropometric data at enrollment and again approximately 60 days later, and provided enrollment stool specimens for identification and characterization of potential diarrheal pathogens. Verbal autopsy was performed if a child died. Analytic strategies will calculate the fraction of MSD attributable to each pathogen and the incidence, financial costs, nutritional consequences, and case fatality overall and by pathogen. Conclusions. When completed, GEMS will provide estimates of the incidence, etiology, and outcomes of MSD among infants and young children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This information can guide development and implementation of public health interventions to diminish morbidity and mortality from diarrheal diseases.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective
To assess the current measles vaccination status in Bangladesh, explain changing differentials in measles vaccination, and determine contexts that may improve measles vaccination coverage.
...Methods
Secondary data analysis of datasets (2004–2014) from the nationally representative Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys that followed stratified, multi‐stage cluster sampling design conducted both in urban and rural contexts.
Results
5468 children aged 12–23 months were surveyed, of whom 892 (16%) reported non‐compliance to measles vaccine. After simultaneous adjusting for covariates in multivariate logistic regression, children who came from a poor socio‐economic background, who had mothers with no formal schooling, who were underweight, of higher birth order (≥4), who had adolescent mothers, who had a history of home delivery and who had no exposure to media were observed to be significantly associated with lack of measles vaccination. Measles vaccination coverage among children of adolescent mothers was consistently low. Despite lack of media exposure, measles vaccination status gradually increased from 26% in 2004 to 33% in 2014. Lack of maternal education was no longer associated with measles vaccination status in 2007, 2011 and 2014. Stunted children continued to be associated with lack of measles immunisation in 2014. Children with higher birth order demonstrated 53% excess risk for not being immunised with measles vaccine. Mothers with no exposure to mass media were two times more likely to have children without measles immunisation as indicated by BDHS 2014 data.
Conclusions
Our findings will help policy makers formulate strategies for expanding measles vaccination coverage in order to achieve further reduction in disease burden and mortality in Bangladesh.
Objectif
Evaluer l'état actuel de la vaccination antirougeoleuse au Bangladesh, expliquer l'évolution des écarts de vaccination antirougeoleuse et déterminer les contextes susceptibles d'améliorer la couverture vaccinale antirougeoleuse.
Méthodes
Analyse des données secondaires des ensembles de données (2004 à 2014) des enquêtes démographiques et sanitaires du Bangladesh représentatives au niveau national, qui ont suivi un plan d'échantillonnage stratifié en grappes à plusieurs niveaux, mené à la fois dans des contextes urbains et ruraux.
Résultats
5.468 enfants de 12 à 23 mois ont été interrogés, dont 892 (16%) ont déclaré une non‐adhésion au vaccin contre la rougeole. Après ajustement simultané des covariables dans la régression logistique multivariée, les enfants issus d'un milieu socioéconomique pauvre, dont les mères n'avaient pas de scolarité formelle, qui étaient en insuffisance pondérale, de rang de naissance supérieur (≥4), qui avaient des mères adolescentes, qui avaient un les antécédents d'accouchement à domicile et qui n'avaient pas été exposés aux médias étaient significativement associés à l'absence de vaccination contre la rougeole. La couverture vaccinale contre la rougeole chez les enfants de mères adolescentes était constamment faible. Malgré le manque d'exposition aux médias, le statut de vaccination contre la rougeole a progressivement augmenté, passant de 26% en 2004 à 33% en 2014. Le manque d'éducation maternelle n'était plus associé au statut de vaccination contre la rougeole en 2007, 2011 et 2014. Les enfants souffrant d'un retard de croissance ont continué d'être associés au manque de la vaccination contre la rougeole en 2014. Les enfants dont le rang de naissance était plus élevé ont démontré un risque de 53% en excès de ne pas être vacciné contre la rougeole. Les mères sans exposition aux médias de masse étaient deux fois plus susceptibles d'avoir des enfants sans vaccination contre la rougeole, comme l'indiquent les données BDHS 2014.
Conclusions
Nos résultats aideront les décideurs à formuler des stratégies pour étendre la couverture vaccinale contre la rougeole afin de réduire encore la charge de morbidité et la mortalité au Bangladesh.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective
To determine the pathogen‐specific risk of seizure in under‐five children hospitalised with moderate‐to‐severe diarrhoea (MSD) in rural settings.
Method
This was a prospective case–control ...study with follow‐up, conducted in a sentinel facility of Global Enteric Multicenter Study in Mirzapur, a rural community of Bangladesh between 2007 and 2010. Children aged 0–59 months who presented with MSD and seizure constituted the cases whereas those who did not have seizure comprised the controls. MSD was defined if the episodes were associated with dehydration or dysentery or required hospitalisation with diarrhoea or dysentery. All enrolled children were followed up at home within 50–90 days of enrolment. A total of 64 cases and 128 randomly selected controls formed the analysable dataset.
Results
The result of logistic regression analysis after adjusting for potential confounders revealed that shigellosis (Shigella species, OR = 5.34, 95% CI = 2.37–12.04) particularly S. flexneri (OR = 3.34, 95% CI = 1.48–7.57), S. flexneri 6 (OR = 23.24, 95% CI = 2.79–193.85), S. sonnei (OR = 6.90, 95% CI = 2.34–19.85); norovirus (OR = 6.77, 95% CI = 1.69–27.11), fever (OR = 16.75, 95% CI = 1.81–154.70) and loss of consciousness (OR = 35.25, 95% CI = 1.71–726.20) were the independent risk factors for seizure in MSD children. At enrolment, cases had lower WHZ (P = 0.006) compared to their peers, follow‐up anthropometrics showed significant improvement in WHZ (P < 0.001) and WAZ (P < 0.05), whereas deterioration in HAZ (P < 0.001) in both cases and controls.
Conclusion
Childhood MSD episodes particularly due to Shigella and norovirus are often associated with seizure. Prompt identification and appropriate management of children with shigellosis may reduce occurrence and adverse consequences of seizure linked with MSD.
ObjectifDéterminer le risque spécifique de convulsions chez les enfants de moins de cinq ans hospitalisés pour une diarrhée modérée à sévère (DMS) en milieu rural.MéthodeIl s'agissait d'une étude prospective cas‐témoins avec suivi, menée dans un établissement sentinelle de l'Etude Globale Multicentrique Entérique à Mirzapur, une communauté rurale du Bangladesh entre 2007 et 2010. Les enfants âgés de 0 à 59 mois qui se sont présentés avec une DMS et des convulsions constituaient les cas, tandis que ceux qui n'avaient pas des convulsions constituaient les témoins. La DMS a été définie si les épisodes étaient associés à une déshydratation ou à une dysenterie ou nécessitaient une hospitalisation pour diarrhée ou dysenterie. Tous les enfants recrutés ont été suivis à domicile dans les 50 à 90 jours suivant le recrutement. Un total de 64 cas et 128 témoins sélectionnés au hasard ont constitué l'ensemble de données analysables.RésultatsLe résultat de l'analyse de régression logistique après ajustement des facteurs de confusion potentiels a révélé que la shigellose (espèce Shigella, OR = 5,34 ; IC95%: 2,37–12,04) en particulier S. flexneri (OR = 3,34 ; IC95%: 1,48–7,57), S. flexneri 6 (OR = 23,24 ; IC95%: 2.79–193,85), S. sonnei (OR = 6,90 ; IC95%: 2,34‐19,85) ; les norovirus (OR = 6,77 ; IC95%: 1,69–27,11), la fièvre (OR = 16,75 ; IC95%: 1,81–154,70) et la perte de conscience (OR = 35,25 ; IC95%: 1,71–726,20) étaient les facteurs de risque indépendants de convulsions chez les enfants souffrant de DMS. Lors du recrutement, les cas avaient un score Z poids pour la taille (ZPT) plus faible (P = 0,006) que leurs pairs, les anthropométries de suivi ont montré une amélioration significative du ZPT (P < 0,001) et du score Z poids pour l’âge (P < 0,05); tandis que le score Z taille pour l’âge (p < 0,001) s'est détérioré chez cas et chez les témoins.ConclusionLes épisodes de DMS de l'enfance, notamment due à Shigella et aux norovirus, sont souvent associés à des convulsions. L'identification rapide et la prise en charge appropriée des enfants atteints de shigellose peuvent réduire la survenue et les conséquences négatives des crises liées aux DMS.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
BackgroundDespite modest progress in reducing tobacco use, tobacco remains one of the major risk factors for non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh.MethodsUsing disease-specific, prevalence-based, ...cost-of-illness approach, this research estimated the economic costs of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke based on data collected from a nationally representative survey of 10 119 households in 2018.ResultsThe study estimated that 1.5 million adults were suffering from tobacco-attributable diseases and 61 000 children were suffering from diseases due to exposure to secondhand smoke in Bangladesh in 2018. Tobacco use caused 125 718 deaths in that year, accounting for 13.5% of all-cause deaths. The total economic cost was 305.6 billion Bangladeshi taka (BDT) (equivalent to 1.4% of gross domestic product or US$3.61 billion), including direct costs (private and public health expenditures) of BDT83.9 billion and indirect costs (productivity loss due to morbidity and premature mortality) of BDT221.7 billion. The total economic cost of tobacco more than doubled since 2004.ConclusionTobacco use imposes a significant and increasing disease and financial burden on society. The enormous tobacco-attributable healthcare costs and productivity loss underscore the need to strengthen the implementation of tobacco control policies to curb the epidemic.
Full text
Available for:
CEKLJ, CMK, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
The forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (FDMNs) known as Rohingya refugees are the largest group of stateless individuals globally. According to the emergencies humanitarian actors at the United ...Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the worldwide refugee crisis involving FDMNs is intensifying at the fastest rate in history. Growing public health demands are being exacerbated by current difficulties in addressing poor access to health services, severe food shortages, and a lack of adequate housing. Infectious diseases constitute a major public health emergency in this vulnerable population. A study was carried out in FDMN children to investigate common soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infection at the time of enrollment and prospectively followed-up to 12 months after 2 doses albendazole treatment. At baseline, the prevalence of STH infection with at least one species was found to be 91.7% and 87.3% for Kato-Katz (KK) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods, respectively. Similarly, for follow-up children, the overall infection rate was 95.3% and 91.5%, respectively. Trichuris trichiura was the most predominant STH infection by both KK (baseline 87%, follow-up 89.1%) and qPCR (baseline 77.5%, follow-up 82.9%). The overall prevalence of stunting in the children was 37.8% at baseline and rose to 51.3% at 12 months. Alpha-1 antitrypsin (r = 0.13, P = 0.01) and myeloperoxidase (r = 0.12, P = 0.01) levels showed a positive correlation with Aascaris lumbricoides egg count per gram at baseline. An in-depth investigation is urgently needed to identify the underlying protective measures and the root cause of STH infections to improve the health of FDMN children.
In this study, we investigated the potential association between the burden of asymptomatic Blastocystis spp. (Blastocystis hominis) infection and nutritional status among children under 2 years of ...age using the data collected from 1,715 children from eight distinct geographic locations, including Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Peru, Tanzania, Pakistan, Nepal, and South Africa. Childhood stunting, wasting, and underweight were the outcome variables, and B. hominis infection was the exposure variable of this present study. The presence of B. hominis in nondiarrheal stools was evaluated by TaqMan Array Cards. Site-specific incidence rates were estimated using Poisson regression, and multiple generalized estimating equation was used to assess the association between the B. hominis infection and nutritional status. The site-specific incidence rates of asymptomatic B. hominis infections per 100 child-months were higher in Tanzania, Peru, and South Africa when compared with the other study sites. Moreover, in terms of site-specific association, childhood stunting was significantly associated with asymptomatic B. hominis infection in Bangladesh (odds ratio OR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.26-2.08), India (OR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.46-2.16), Nepal (OR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.60-3.21), Peru (OR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.26-1.71), South Africa (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.35-1.83), and Tanzania (OR: 2.46; 95% CI: 2.18-2.79) sites. Wasting was associated with B. hominis in the Brazil site only (OR: 3.19; 95% CI: 1.31-7.77). On the other hand, underweight was associated in the Bangladesh (OR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.48-2.42), Brazil (OR: 4.41; 95% CI: 1.57-12.4), Nepal (OR: 2.25; 95% CI: 1.52-3.35), and Tanzania (OR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.42-1.99) sites. Our analysis further reveals that the presence of additional pathogens may play a pathogenic role in children who have B. hominis infection.
Cancer remains one of the primary causes of death in Bangladesh. The success of cancer control in rural areas depends on the ability of the health care system and workforce to identify and manage ...cases properly at early stages. Community Health Workers (CHW) can play a vital role in this process. The present study aims to assess cancer related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) among 2 categories of CHWs - Community Health Care Providers (CHCP) and Health Assistants (HA) in rural Bangladesh.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire from July 2019 to June 2020. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to determine the sample. One Upazilla Health Complex (UHC) from each of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh were randomly chosen as study sites, from which 325 CHCPs and HAs were in the final sample. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to determine the association between KAP scores and demographic variables.
Our study shows that a modest number of respondents scored above average in the knowledge (54.15%), attitude (58.15%), and practice (65.54%) sections. Majority CHCPs (90.91%) and HAs (96.06%) did not receive govt. training on cancer. Only 20.71% HAs and 25.2% CHCPs knew about the availability of cancer treatment options in Bangladesh. Uncertainty about the availability of relevant treatments or vaccinations at public facilities was also high. Having cancer in the family, income, duration of employment and workplace locations were important predictors of cancer related KAP scores.
Healthcare workforce's knowledge gap and unfavorable attitude towards cancer may result in poor delivery of care at the rural level. For many people in rural areas, CHCPs and HAs are the first point of contact with the healthcare system and thus effective cancer control strategies must consider them as key stakeholders. Targeted training programs must be adopted to address the cancer related KAP gaps among CHCPs and HAs.
Full text
Available for:
CEKLJ, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Asymptomatic infection by fecal enteropathogens is a major contributor to childhood malnutrition. Here, we investigated the incidence rate of asymptomatic infection by enterotoxigenic Escherichia ...coli (ETEC) and assessed its association with childhood stunting, wasting, and being underweight among children under 2 years of age. The Malnutrition and Enteric Disease birth cohort study included 1,715 children who were followed from birth to 24 months of age from eight distinct geographic locations including Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Peru, Tanzania, Pakistan, Nepal, and South Africa. The TaqMan array card assay was used to determine the presence of ETEC in the nondiarrheal stool samples collected from these children. Poisson regression was used to estimate the incidence rate, and multiple generalized estimating equations with binomial family, logit link function, and exchangeable correlation were used to analyze the association between asymptomatic ETEC infection and anthropometric indicators such as stunting, wasting, and being underweight. The site-specific incidence rates of asymptomatic ETEC infections per 100 child-months were also higher at the study locations in Tanzania (54.81 95% CI: 52.64, 57.07) and Bangladesh (46.75 95% CI: 44.75, 48.83). In the Bangladesh, India, and Tanzania sites, the composite indicator of anthropometric failure was significantly associated with asymptomatic ETEC infection. Furthermore, a significant association between asymptomatic heat-stable toxin ETEC infections and childhood stunting, wasting, and being underweight was found in only the Bangladesh and Tanzania sites.
Aquatic agricultural systems (AAS) in coastal Southwest Bangladesh have evolved in response to a number of stimuli and constraints including improving market access, technological change, and ...salinization. Farming systems in the region are highly dynamic, and are characterized by the integration of varying combinations of freshwater prawns, rice, fish, vegetables, and brackish water shrimp. This paper examines the developmental history, productivity, and profitability of three distinct AAS: a low-salinity freshwater prawn-dominated system; an intermediate-salinity-mixed prawn and shrimp system, and a high-salinity shrimp-dominated system. Productivity, cropping intensity, and profitability are found to be highest in the diversified low- and intermediate-salinity systems, and lower in the high-salinity system, where cultivation of rice and vegetables is no longer possible. The paper concludes that more diverse integrated systems reduce risk and vulnerability for farming households. Salinization is found to be a double-edged sword - proving a stimulus to diversification at low levels, but reducing agro-biodiversity at higher salt concentrations. While the adaptation strategies in all systems have been successful in maintaining or improving most, though not all, system functions due to high levels of social resilience, support for effective community-based adaptation strategies will enable continued transformation and adaptation to future drivers of change.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK