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PREVALENCE OF INFECTION WITH WATERBORNE PATHOGENS: A SEROEPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDY IN CHILDREN 6–36 MONTHS OLD IN SAN JUAN SACATEPEQUEZ, GUATEMALA

2004; American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Volume: 70; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4269/ajtmh.2004.70.83

1476-1645

Ellen B. Steinberg, Carlos E. Mendoza‐Santiesteban, Roger I. Glass, Byron Arana, Beatriz López, Maricruz de Mejía, Benjamin D. Gold, Jeffrey W. Priest, W F Bibb, Stephan S. Monroe, Caryn Bern, Beth P. Bell, Robert M. Hoekstra, Robert E. Klein, Eric D. Mintz, Stephen P. Luby,

Hepatitis Viruses Studies and Epidemiology

Water and sanitation interventions in developing countries have historically been difficult to evaluate. We conducted a seroepidemiologic study with the following goals: 1) to determine the feasibility of using antibody markers as indicators of waterborne pathogen infection in the evaluation of water and sanitation intervention projects; 2) to characterize the epidemiology of waterborne diarrheal infections in rural Guatemala, and 3) to measure the age-specific prevalence of antibodies to waterborne pathogens. Between September and December 1999, all children 6-36 months of age in 10 study villages were invited to participate. We collected sufficient serum from 522 of 590 eligible children, and divided them into six-month age groups for analysis (6-12, 13-18, 19-24, 25-30, and 31-36 months). The prevalence of antibodies was lowest in children 6-12 months old compared with the four older age groups for the following pathogens: enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (48%, 81%, 80%, 77%, and 83%), Norwalk virus (27%, 61%, 83%, 94%, and 94%), and Cryptosporidium parvum (27%, 53%, 70%, 67%, and 73%). The prevalence of total antibody to hepatitis A virus increased steadily in the three oldest age groups (40%, 28%, 46%, 60%, and 76%). In contrast, the prevalence of antibody to Helicobacter pylori was relatively constant in all five age groups (20%, 19%, 21%, 25%, and 25%). Serology appears to be an efficient and feasible approach for determining the prevalence of infection with selected waterborne pathogens in very young children. Such an approach may provide a suitable, sensitive, and economical alternative to the cumbersome stool collection methods that have previously been used for evaluation of water and sanitation projects.