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. 1991 Jun;75(6):322–325. doi: 10.1136/bjo.75.6.322

Latrine ownership as a protective factor in inflammatory trachoma in Egypt.

P Courtright 1, J Sheppard 1, S Lane 1, A Sadek 1, J Schachter 1, C R Dawson 1
PMCID: PMC1042373  PMID: 2043570

Abstract

We investigated the association between inflammatory trachoma in children aged 1-5 and environmental and sociodemographic risk factors in a rural Nile Delta hamlet. Inflammatory trachoma clustered in households, emphasising the child-to-child nature of transmission in the hamlet. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed three factors predicting inflammatory trachoma in children: the absence of a latrine in the household, school-age siblings with inflammatory trachoma, and additional same-age siblings (with or without disease) in the household. In the Egyptian setting the presence of pit latrines in all houses, even when full and unscreened, might result in a reduction in trachoma prevalence in this population from the current 49% to 35%. The construction of pit latrines may offer the simplest and most acceptable environmental method for reducing trachoma in this trachoma endemic area.

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Selected References

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