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TropicalMed
Special Issues
Hygiene-Related Diseases in Developing Countries
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Hygiene-Related Diseases in Developing Countries

A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "Infectious Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 December 2022) | Viewed by 11186

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Peter Kjær Mackie Jensen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, Section for Global Health, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, 1014 Copenhagen, Denmark
Interests: cholera; drinking water; household hygiene; fecal oral transmission routes; sanitation; E. coli; diarrhea
Prof. Dr. Anowara Begum

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Interests: one health; enteric pathogens and water quality; cholera and other diarrheal diseases; in house transmission of environmental pathogens and bioremediation
Prof. Dr. Debarati Guha

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Research on Epidemiology of disasters, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
Interests: epidemiology; data; public health conflicts disasters
Prof. Dr. Jahit Sacarlal

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Guest Editor
Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique
Interests: vaccines; microbiology; public health; epidemiology; ethics in research

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The year 2020 raised the issue of personal hygiene discussions that we have not seen for 160 years, with the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak as the exception. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fact that known simple hygiene interventions (such as disinfecting surfaces and hands) could potentially reduce the explosive transmission of the causative agent, SARS-CoV-2; however, to what extent that disinfection worked was the question. This debate between the airborne versus person-to-person transmission theory was, in essence, a repetition of the discussion that John Snow had with his peers during the cholera outbreaks in England in the 1850s; a conversation where he was eventually proved correct with his convincing arguments favoring food, hygiene, and water transmission. John Snow’s story also tells us how history favors excellent storytelling. The tale of the removal of a water pump handle in Broad Street forever linked cholera transmission to drinking water, and left Snow’s less attractive hygiene message in obscurity. However, novel research has indicated that even our recollection of Snow’s story might have to be revised with an increased emphasis on hygiene. 

Improving hygiene practices is one of the single most cost-effective means of reducing infectious diseases’ global health burden. Policymakers increasingly favor hygiene promotion because of its fundamental role in reducing infections—and probably, more importantly, its low cost for implementation—but this is still not enough to achieve the expected success. One reason could be because the interventions and underlying studies still build on our traditional water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) approach. It is often forgotten that many people in low- and middle-income countries live in high-density areas where close interaction with domestic animals and households under water stress is increasingly a reality for many. This forces us to re-explore contamination routes and investigate whether our traditional knowledge remains pertinent in a world of climate change and increasing urbanization. Therefore, metaphorically speaking, we still have a long way ahead besides removing the contaminated pump handle. 

This Special Issue will highlight various aspects of hygiene-related diseases, especially in low- and middle-income countries. We seek to showcase the vital work conducted on exploring the known and unknown facts of emerging and re-emerging hygiene-related diseases; social, cultural perspectives and behavior; novel methods for surveillance; modes of transmission; and finally, interventions to mitigate these diseases. We also encourage manuscripts on outbreak prediction and risk assessment, epidemiology during recent outbreaks, lessons learned from previous outbreaks, human health benefits, and economic sustainability.  

Prof. Dr. Peter Kjær Mackie Jensen
Prof. Dr. Anowara Begum
Prof. Dr. Debarati Guha 
Prof. Dr. Jahit Sacarlal 
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Hygiene-related Diseases
  • Household hygiene 
  • Fecal-oral transmission
  • Diarrhea 
  • Cholera
  • Water
  • Sanitation
  • Emerging diseases
  • One Health 
  • Water insecurity
  • Environmental Health

Published Papers (4 papers)

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13 pages, 296 KiB  
Article
Detecting Enteric Pathogens in Low-Risk Drinking Water in Dhaka, Bangladesh: An Assessment of the WHO Water Safety Categories
by Sabera Saima, Jannatul Ferdous, Rebeca Sultana, Ridwan Bin Rashid, Sara Almeida, Anowara Begum and Peter Kjær Mackie Jensen
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8(6), 321; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8060321 - 14 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2279
Abstract
The microbiological quality of water is usually assessed by fecal coliform bacteria, and the presence of E. coli as an indicator of fecal contamination is widely recommended by international guidelines. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of diarrheagenic pathogens, in both public [...] Read more.
The microbiological quality of water is usually assessed by fecal coliform bacteria, and the presence of E. coli as an indicator of fecal contamination is widely recommended by international guidelines. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of diarrheagenic pathogens, in both public and personal domain water sources and examine the reliance on the WHO drinking water risk assessment guidelines. This study was conducted in a low-income urban community in Dhaka, Bangladesh between September 2014 and October 2015. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the marker and virulence genes of Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella species, and Campylobacter species, and the culture method was employed for the quantitative assessment of E. coli. According to the WHO guidelines, 48% of the public domain source water and 21% of the personal domain point-of-drinking water were classified in the low-risk group, i.e., 0 CFU of E. coli/100 mL. However, when using PCR, we detected pathogens in 39% (14/36) of the point-of-drinking water samples and 65% (74/114) of the public domain water source samples classified in the low-risk group. Our study showed that relying solely on E. coli detection as a measure of water quality may overlook the presence of other pathogens in the drinking water. In addition to the culture-based method, the detection of virulence genes by PCR should also be considered to add more scrutiny to the detection of diverse types of pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hygiene-Related Diseases in Developing Countries)
11 pages, 1612 KiB  
Article
Introduction of the Personal Domain in Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), a New Approach to Identify Missing Health Impacts
by Peter Kjær Mackie Jensen, Zenat Zebin Hossain, Rebeca Sultana, Jannatul Ferdous, Sara Almeida and Anowara Begum
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2023, 8(5), 252; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed8050252 - 26 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1487
Abstract
The water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector has provided beneficiaries in low and middle-income countries with latrines and clean water for decades. However, we still need good evidence documenting the expected health impact. This paper investigates why we lack this evidence and ways [...] Read more.
The water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector has provided beneficiaries in low and middle-income countries with latrines and clean water for decades. However, we still need good evidence documenting the expected health impact. This paper investigates why we lack this evidence and ways to move forward. Using mTEC agar, we monitored E. coli contamination on selected “hotspot” surfaces within the kitchen environments of 32 low-income households in Dhaka, Bangladesh, every six weeks for two years. Despite being washed, the highest average contamination was found on food plates, at 253 cfu/10 cm2, followed by cutting knives, with 240 cfu/10 cm2. The drinking vessel surfaces and the latrine doorknobs had the lowest contaminations, with E. coli means of 167 and 73 cfu/10 cm2, respectively. These findings imply a need to measure an individual’s pathogen exposure as close to the mouth as possible to estimate the true pathogen exposure. The paper proposes introducing the new “personal domain”—the point of consumption—as the physical sphere in which WASH interventions should be assessed. With this approach, we can observe and quantify the different pathogen exposure routes and, with this, further improve WASH interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hygiene-Related Diseases in Developing Countries)
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13 pages, 1959 KiB  
Article
Is It Human or Animal? The Origin of Pathogenic E. coli in the Drinking Water of a Low-Income Urban Community in Bangladesh
by Jannatul Ferdous, Ridwan Bin Rashid, Rebeca Sultana, Sabera Saima, Musharrat Jahan Prima, Anowara Begum and Peter Kjær Mackie Jensen
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2021, 6(4), 181; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed6040181 - 05 Oct 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2910
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the origin of diverse pathotypes of E. coli, isolated from communal water sources and from the actual drinking water vessel at the point-of-drinking inside households in a low-income urban community in Arichpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh, using a polymerase [...] Read more.
This study aimed to investigate the origin of diverse pathotypes of E. coli, isolated from communal water sources and from the actual drinking water vessel at the point-of-drinking inside households in a low-income urban community in Arichpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh, using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Forty-six percent (57/125, CI 95%: 41−58) of the isolates in the point-of-drinking water and 53% (55/103, CI 95%: 45−64) of the isolates in the source water were diarrheagenic E. coli. Among the pathotypes, enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) was the most common, 81% (46/57) of ETEC was found in the point-of-drinking water and 87% (48/55) was found in the communal source water. Phylogenetic group B1, which is predominant in animals, was the most frequently found isolate in both the point-of-drinking water (50%, 91/181) and in the source (50%, 89/180) water. The phylogenetic subgroup B23, usually of human origin, was more common in the point-of-drinking water (65%, 13/20) than in the source water (35%, 7/20). Our findings suggest that non-human mammals and birds played a vital role in fecal contamination for both the source and point-of-drinking water. Addressing human sanitation without a consideration of fecal contamination from livestock sources will not be enough to prevent drinking-water contamination and thus will persist as a greater contributor to diarrheal pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hygiene-Related Diseases in Developing Countries)
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18 pages, 1899 KiB  
Systematic Review
Burden and Epidemiology of Human Intestinal Giardia duodenalis Infection in Colombia: A Systematic Review
by Carmine Fusaro, Yosef A. Chávez-Romero, Sonia Liliana Gómez Prada, Nancy Serrano-Silva, Jaime E. Bernal, Francisco Erik González-Jiménez and Yohanna Sarria-Guzmán
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2022, 7(10), 325; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed7100325 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2906
Abstract
The genus Giardia is a unicellular protozoan able to parasitize both humans and animals. Cysts of Giardia can be found in soil samples, aquatic environments, food, and any surface that gets in contact with the feces of parasitized animals. The aim of this [...] Read more.
The genus Giardia is a unicellular protozoan able to parasitize both humans and animals. Cysts of Giardia can be found in soil samples, aquatic environments, food, and any surface that gets in contact with the feces of parasitized animals. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the burden and epidemiology of Giardia infection in Colombia summarizing recent scientific reports and existing knowledge and to identify knowledge gaps that may be addressed in future investigations. This work follows the guidelines established by “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes” (PRISMA). Published scientific literature from 1 January 2010 to 18 September 2022 was searched in six electronic scientific databases using the search terms: “Giardia” OR “Giardiasis” AND “Colombia”. Twenty-three scientific articles were performed in 22 departments of Colombia at rural, urban, and a combination of rural and urban contexts. The prevalence of Giardia in the Colombian population was between 0.9 and 48.1% when the samples were analyzed with classical microscopy; the range of Giardia prevalence was even bigger (4.2–100%) when qPCR and nested PCR were used. The dominant Giardia assemblages found in Colombia were A and B, and most frequent subassemblages were AII, BIII, and BIV. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hygiene-Related Diseases in Developing Countries)
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