Abstract
Among children, infections with soil-transmitted helminths (STH) can cause anemia, impaired growth, and absence from school. Sustainable control of STH infection requires that appropriate latrines be integrated with health-promotion education. We report a pilot study of the effects of a combined latrine-education intervention in Central Java, Indonesia. The participants were 99 children (3–13 years old) in two villages (intervention and control) south of Semarang city. Stool samples were collected from the children and were examined for the presence of helminth eggs. After baseline data were collected, latrines were constructed and health education was given in the intervention village. Then, in both villages, all children who had STH infection at baseline were given 400 mg of albendazole. Eight months later, follow-up stool samples were collected and examined. In both villages, 20% of the children had STH infection at baseline. At follow-up, the incidence of STH infection was much lower in the intervention village than in the control village (4.0% vs. 20.4%; p<0.02). The results of this small pilot study give some confidence that a scaled-up study involving many more children and cluster-randomization of the intervention will be feasible and could provide more conclusive evidence of the intervention’s effectiveness.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the residents of the two villages, to the village heads, the research assistants, and the mayor of Semarang City. This work would not have been possible without generous support from the UBS Optimus foundation.
References
1. United Nations. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015: Goal 7 – Ensure environmental sustainability. 58pp. Available at: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/mdg/the-millennium-development-goals-report-2015.html/.Search in Google Scholar
2. Laporan Hasil-Riset Kesehatan Dasar (LHRKD) Indonesia 2007 Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Kesehatan (Balitbangkes) Departemen Kesehatan (Depkes), Republik Indonesia (RI). Available at: http://www.depkes.go.id/resources/download/general/Hasil%20Riskesdas%202007.pdf/.Search in Google Scholar
3. Social factors impacting the use of EcoSan in rural Indonesia: Learning Note. 2010. Available at: http://www.wsp.org/.Search in Google Scholar
4. Cameron L, Shah M. “Scaling up rural sanitation: Findings from the impact evaluation baseline survey in Indonesia.” c2011 [cited 2011 May 3]; Global Scaling-Up Rural Sanitation Project, Cater and Sanitation Program Technical Paper. Available at: http://www.wsp.org/.Search in Google Scholar
5. World Health Organization (WHO) Fact sheets on environmental sanitation. Available at: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/emergencies/envsanfactsheets/en/index2.html/.Search in Google Scholar
6. Supali T, Djuardi Y, Bradley M, Noordin R, Rückert P. Impact of six rounds of mass drug administration on brugian filariasis and soil-transmitted helminth infections in Eastern Indonesia. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2013;7(12):e2586.10.1371/journal.pntd.0002586Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
7. Sofiana L, Sumarni S, Ipa M. Fingernail biting increase the risk of soil transmitted helminth (STH) infection in elementary school children. Health Science Journal of Indonesia 2011;2(2):81–6.Search in Google Scholar
8. Fatoni Z, Stewart DE. Sanitation in an emergency situation: a case study of the eruption of Mt Merapi, Indonesia, 2010. Int J Environ Prot 2012;2:1–5.Search in Google Scholar
9. Bieri FA, Gray DJ, Williams GM. Health-education package to prevent worm infections in Chinese schoolchildren. N Engl J Med 2013;368:1603–12.10.1056/NEJMoa1204885Search in Google Scholar PubMed
10. Campbell SJ, Savage GB, Gray DJ, Atkinson J-AM, Soares Magalhães RJ, et al. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH): A critical component for sustainable soil-transmitted helminth and schistosomiasis control. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2014;8(4):e2651.10.1371/journal.pntd.0002651Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
11. Jia T-W, Melville S, Utzinger J, King CH, Zhou X-N. Soil-transmitted helminth reinfection after drug treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2012;6(5):1621–31.10.1371/journal.pntd.0001621Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
12. Stewart D, Laksono B. Helminth infection, human waste and appropriate technology: An Indonesian case study. Environ Health 2002;2:46–52.Search in Google Scholar
13. Inpankaew T, Schär F, Khieu V, Muth S, Dalsgaard A. Simple fecal flotation is a superior alternative to guadruple Kato Katz smear examination for the detection of hookworm eggs in human stool. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2014;8(12):e3313.10.1371/journal.pntd.0003313Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
©2016 by De Gruyter
