Household drinking water E. coli contamination and its associated risk with childhood diarrhea in Bangladesh

Efficacy evaluation of anti-DEC-IgY against antibiotic-resistant diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli

Introduction. The rise of multi-drug-resistant bacteria poses a global threat. In 2017, the World Health Organization identified 12 antibiotic-resistant 'priority pathogens', including Enterobacteriaceae, highlighting the menace of Gram-negative bacteria. Diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (DEC)-induced diarrhoea is particularly problematic for travellers and infants. In contrast to other antibiotic alternatives, passive immunotherapy is showing promise by providing immediate and precise protection. However, mammalian-sourced antibodies are costly, hindering large-scale production. Egg-laying chicken-derived IgY antibodies present a cost-effective, high-yield solution, revolutionizing antibody-based therapeutics compared to mammalian IgG.Hypothesis/Gap Statement. This study hypothesized that developing anti-DEC-IgY could combat DEC infections effectively.Aim. The primary aim was to develop anti-DEC-IgY and assess its potential in DEC-induced diarrhoeal management.Method. Chickens were immunized with DEC antigens to induce an immune response. IgY antibodies were extracted from immune eggs and purified using ion-exchange column chromatography. Anti-DEC-IgY's ability to inhibit DEC growth was evaluated through growth inhibition assays. Anti-DEC-IgY's capacity to prevent E. coli adhesion was assessed using mice intestinal mucosa. In vivo experiments measured pathogen colonization reduction and infection severity reduction. P values were calculated to confirm statistical significance.Result. The antibacterial efficacy of anti-DEC-IgY by growth inhibition assay demonstrated that 25 mg ml-1 of IgY could inhibit the DEC growth. The anti-adherence-property was tested using mice intestinal mucosa and found that anti-DEC-IgY could prevent the E. coli adhesion. In vivo results suggest that 12 mg ml-1 of IgY will reduce the pathogen colonization in intestine and reduce the severity of the infection. The P values between the experimental groups confirm the statistical significance of the findings.Conclusion. The study findings suggest that IgY-based passive immunotherapy could be a potential strategy for managing the risks associated with antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Additionally, this study paves the way for the development of IgY-related research and applications in India.

Social and Environmental Determinants of Diarrheal Diseases among Children under Five Years in Epworth Township, Harare

Children five years or younger in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are severely affected by diarrheal disease, especially in the sub-Saharan region. Hence, this study aimed at determining the prevalence and determinants of diarrhoea disease among children under 5 years in Epworth Township, Zimbabwe. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at a local clinic in Epworth Township, Harare. A convenience sampling strategy was used to recruit study participants for participation, and 386 children were enrolled in the study. The majority were male children (n = 229; 59.3%), whereas there were more female caregivers (n = 370; 95.9%) than male caregivers (n = 16; 4.1%). The prevalence of diarrhoea disease in the study was 25.1%. The determinants associated with diarrhoea were being partially vaccinated (AOR 2.38, CI: 95% 2.80-8.22), collecting water more than 1 kilometre from a household (AOR 4.55; CI: 95% 2.10-9.85), and using untreated water (AOR 6.22; CI: 95% 2.13-18.20). The age of the caregiver (being older than 21) and using a clean water container (AOR 0.05; CI: 95% 0.02-0.13) were protective factors. Provision of primary health care, especially the prevention of a disease through immunization and rendering environmental health services, could reduce the prevalence of diarrhoea in disadvantaged townships.

How to clean a tubewell: the effectiveness of three approaches in reducing coliform bacteria

Access to safe drinking water in rural Bangladesh remains a perpetual challenge. Most households are exposed to either arsenic or faecal bacteria in their primary source of drinking water, usually a tubewell. Improving tubewell cleaning and maintenance practices might reduce exposure to faecal contamination at a potentially low cost, but whether current cleaning and maintenance practices are effective remains uncertain, as does the extent to which best practice approaches might improve water quality. We used a randomized experiment to evaluate how effectively three approaches to cleaning a tubewell improved water quality, measured by total coliforms and E. coli. The three approaches comprise the caretaker's usual standard of care and two best-practice approaches. One best-practice approach, disinfecting the well with a weak chlorine solution, consistently improved water quality. However, when caretakers cleaned the wells themselves, they followed few of the steps involved in the best-practice approaches, and water quality declined rather than improved, although the estimated declines are not consistently statistically significant. The results suggest that, while improvements to cleaning and maintenance practices might help reduce exposure to faecal contamination in drinking water in rural Bangladesh, achieving widespread adoption of more effective practices would require significant behavioural change.

Cefsulodin and Vancomycin: A Supplement for Chromogenic Coliform Agar for Detection of Escherichia coli and Coliform Bacteria from Different Water Sources

Background microorganism growth on Chromogenic Coliform Agar (CCA) can be challenging. For this reason, a new alternative method with a Cefsulodin/Vancomycin (CV)-supplemented CCA should be developed in this study. CCA supplemented with CV was validated according to ÖNORM EN ISO 16140-4:2021 using water from natural sources in Styria, Austria. Results show that the alternative method using the supplemented CCA has similar values in relation to sensitivity (82.2%), specificity (98.6%) and higher selectivity (59%) compared to the reference method. Repeatability and reproducibility were acceptable for the alternative method and showed similar results with the reference method. The alternative method shows a very low false positive rate and a low false negative rate paired with good performance regarding the inclusion study. The exclusion study shows the advantage of our method by suppressing background microorganisms and facilitating the process of enumeration of Escherichia coli and other coliform bacteria on CCA plates. Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth was inhibited using the supplement. To conclude, the coliform CV selective supplement combined with CCA is an appropriate tool for coliform bacteria detection in water samples.