Open AccessThe relationship between prevalence of active trachoma, water availability and its use in a Tanzanian village
Author(s) -
Sarah Polack,
Hannah Kuper,
Anthony W. Solomon,
Patrick Massae,
Carolina Abuelo,
E. K. Cameron,
Vivian Valdmanis,
Michael Johnson Mahande,
Allen Foster,
David Mabey
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
transactions of the royal society of tropical medicine and hygiene
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1878-3503
pISSN - 0035-9203
DOI - 10.1016/j.trstmh.2005.12.002
Subject(s) - trachoma , tanzania , hygiene , tropical medicine , medicine , library science , history , ethnology , pathology , computer science
This study aimed to establish the relationship between the prevalence of active trachoma in children, water availability and household water use in a village in Tanzania. Nine hundred and fourteen children aged 1-9 years were examined for signs of trachoma. Data were collected on time taken to collect water, amount of water collected and other trachoma risk factors. In a sub-study, 99 randomly selected households were visited twice daily on two consecutive days to document patterns of water use. The prevalence of active trachoma in the children examined was 18.4% (95% CI 15.9-20.9). Active trachoma prevalence increased with increasing water collection time (OR 2.25; 95% CI 1.13-4.46) but was unrelated to the amount of water collected. In the sub-study, active trachoma prevalence was substantially lower in children from households where more water was used for personal hygiene (P for trend < or =0.01), independent of the total amount of water used. The allocation of water to hygiene was predicted by lower water collection time. The key element in the relationship between water availability and trachoma is the allocation of water within households. Collection time may influence both the quantity of water collected and its allocation within the household.