A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess the Impact of Ceramic Water Filters on Prevention of Diarrhea and Cryptosporidiosis in Infants and Young Children—Western Kenya, 2013

Jamae Fontain Morris Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;
Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;
Department of African-American Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Jennifer Murphy Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Kirsten Fagerli Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Chandra Schneeberger Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Peter Jaron Kenya Medical Research Institute, Center for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya;

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Fenny Moke Kenya Medical Research Institute, Center for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya;

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Jane Juma Kenya Medical Research Institute, Center for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya;

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John B. Ochieng Kenya Medical Research Institute, Center for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya;

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Richard Omore Kenya Medical Research Institute, Center for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya;

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Dawn Roellig Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Lihua Xiao Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Jeffrey W. Priest Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Jothikumar Narayanan Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Joel M. Montgomery Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nairobi, Kenya

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Vince Hill Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Eric Mintz Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Tracy L. Ayers Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Ciara E. O’Reilly Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia;

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Cryptosporidium is a leading cause of diarrhea among Kenyan infants. Ceramic water filters (CWFs) are used for household water treatment. We assessed the impact of CWFs on diarrhea, cryptosporidiosis prevention, and water quality in rural western Kenya. A randomized, controlled intervention trial was conducted in 240 households with infants 4–10 months old. Twenty-six weekly household surveys assessed infant diarrhea and health facility visits. Stool specimens from infants with diarrhea were examined for Cryptosporidium. Source water, filtered water, and filter retentate were tested for Cryptosporidium and/or microbial indicators. To estimate the effect of CWFs on health outcomes, logistic regression models using generalized estimating equations were performed; odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) are reported. Households reported using surface water (36%), public taps (29%), or rainwater (17%) as their primary drinking water sources, with no differences in treatment groups. Intervention households reported less diarrhea (7.6% versus 8.9%; OR: 0.86 [0.64–1.16]) and significantly fewer health facility visits for diarrhea (1.0% versus 1.9%; OR: 0.50 [0.30–0.83]). In total, 15% of intervention and 12% of control stools yielded Cryptosporidium (P = 0.26). Escherichia coli was detected in 93% of source water samples; 71% of filtered water samples met World Health Organization recommendations of < 1 E. coli/100 mL. Cryptosporidium was not detected in source water and was detected in just 2% of filter rinses following passage of large volumes of source water. Water quality was improved among CWF users; however, the short study duration and small sample size limited our ability to observe reductions in cryptosporidiosis.

Author Notes

Address correspondence to Jamae Fontain Morris, Department of African-American Studies, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 4109, Atlanta, GA 30302-4109. E-mail: jmorris60@gsu.edu

Financial support: The study was funded by a grant from the CDC Innovation Fund (iFund), the CDC Waterborne Diseases Prevention Branch program funds, and the U.S. Agency for International Development through an Inter-Agency Agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Authors’ addresses: Jamae Fontain Morris, Epidemic Intelligence Service, Office of Workforce and Career Development, Atlanta, GA, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, and Department of African-American Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, E-mail: jmorris60@gsu.edu. Jennifer Murphy, Kirsten Fagerli, Chandra Schneeberger, Dawn Roellig, Lihua Xiao, Jeffrey W. Priest, Jothikumar Narayanan, Vince Hill, Eric Mintz, Tracy L. Ayers, and Ciara E. O’Reilly, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, E-mails: iod7@cdc.gov, lmj8@cdc.gov, chandra_schneeberger@yahoo.com, iyd4@cdc.gov, lax0@cdc.gov, jip8@cdc.gov, jin2@cdc.gov, veh2@cdc.gov, edm1@cdc.gov, eyk6@cdc.gov, and bwf1@cdc.gov. Peter Jaron, Fenny Moke, Jane Juma, J. Ben Ochieng, and Richard Omore, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Center for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya, E-mails: pjaron@kemricdc.org, fmoke@kemricdc.org, jjuma@kemricdc.org, bochieng@kemricdc.org, and romore@kemricdc.org. Joel M. Montgomery, Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nairobi, Kenya, E-mail: ztq9@cdc.gov.

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