Table 3.
Potential sources of fecal–oral transmission for children (n = 20) in three communities in Balés, Kossi, and Boulkiemdé provinces in Burkina Faso
| Potential vector | No. of children (%) | Mean episodes (SD)* | % Visibly dirty† |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food‡ | 19 (95) | 7.05 (4.45) | 79 (95/121) |
| Baby’s hands or feet | 15 (75) | 2.15 (2.37) | 97 (29/30) |
| Baby’s cup and spoon | 13 (65) | 1.45 (1.36) | 82 (18/22) |
| Fruits | 3 (15) | 0.2 (0.52) | 75 (3/4) |
| Toys | 7 (35) | 0.95 (1.76) | 100 (12/12) |
| Soil | 9 (45) | 1.25 (1.94) | 100 (10/10) |
| Mother’s breasts | 12 (60) | 4.3 (4.84) | 75 (63/84) |
| Water | 6 (30) | 0.35 (0.59) | 57 (4/7) |
| Stone | 1 (5) | 0.05 (0.22) | 100 (1/1) |
| Chicken feces | 0 (0) | 0 (0.00) | – |
| Wood | 11 (55) | 1.65 (1.87) | 96 (22/23) |
| Plastic | 11 (55) | 1.55 (2.28) | 95 (21/22) |
| Clothes | 9 (45) | 0.9 (1.25) | 100 (7/7) |
| Pot, pan, and buckets | 10 (50) | 0.8 (1.01) | 100 (6/6) |
| Other§ | 19 (95) | 8.9 (6.62) | 95 (59/62) |
* Mean number of times each of the objects was put into the mouth for each of the index child over the 4-hour observation period.
† This column shows the percent of the number of times a visibly dirty object was put in the index child’s mouth. In parentheses are the number of times those episodes happened out of the total episodes for each potential vector.
‡ Visibly dirty food referred to any food that came into contact with bare soil, soiled hands, visibly dirty utensils, or murky water.
§ Others refer to any other object/ items not included in the list, for example, maize cobs.