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Observación directa de la higiene en una barriada Peruana: No hay suficiente lavado de manos y hay escasez de agua
Author(s) -
Oswald William E.,
Hunter Gabrielle C.,
Lescano Andres G.,
Cabrera Lilia,
Leontsini Elli,
Pan William K.,
Soldan Valerie Paz,
Gilman Robert H.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2008.02177.x
Subject(s) - hygiene , bathing , contamination , transmission (telecommunications) , environmental health , hand washing , washing hands , medicine , contaminated water , water contamination , geography , ecology , biology , environmental chemistry , chemistry , pathology , electrical engineering , engineering
Summary Objective To document frequency of hygiene practices of mothers and children in a shantytown in Lima, Peru. Methods Continuous monitoring over three 12‐h sessions in households without in‐house water connections to measure: (i) water and soap use of 32 mothers; (ii) frequency of interrupting faecal‐hand contamination by washing; and (iii) the time until faecal‐hand contamination became a possible transmission event. Results During 1008 h of observation, 55% (65/119) of mothers’ and 69% (37/54) of children’s faecal‐hand contamination events were not followed within 15 min by handwashing or bathing. Nearly 40% (67/173) of faecal‐hand contamination events became possible faecal‐oral transmission events. There was no difference in the time‐until‐transmission between mothers and children ( P = 0.43). Potential transmission of faecal material to food or mouth occurred in 64% of cases within 1 h of hand contamination. Mean water usage (6.5 l) was low compared to international disaster relief standards. Conclusions We observed low volumes of water usage, inadequate handwashing, and frequent opportunities for faecal contamination and possible transmission in this water‐scarce community.