Congratulations to our GH2DP Student and Resident Researchers!

GH2DP Student Scholar Nehal Naik
in New Orleans

Congratulations to our GH2DP student and resident researchers who presented their research projects this week at the American Society of
Tropical Medicine & Hygiene's annual meeting in New Orleans. 

GH2DP Pathway Resident
Dr. El-Yafawi in New Orleans

Nehal Naik, now a second year medical student at VCU, presented his data on risk factors and knowledge about soil transmitted helminths in Yoro, Honduras. He also presented data on a novel water catchment device that was developed at VCU by students in the local chapter of Engineers Without Borders. 

GH2DP Student Scholar Rachel Pryor

Dr. Rama El-Yafawi, a senior global health pathway resident in VCU's Internal Medicine residency program, presented her data on barriers to use of water filters in Yoro, Honduras. 

Rachel Pryor, a GH2DP Student Scholar and MPH candidate at VCU presented her data on knowledge about and access to cervical cancer screening in Yoro, Honduras. 

Congratulations again to all of these terrific student and resident researchers!

Congratulations Gabriela Halder-Manuscript Published on Research in Honduras

Here is a blog post (used with permission) from my friend and colleague Dr. Gonzalo Bearman about work one of our students did in Honduras (great work Gaby!); the original post can be found here.

Congratulations Gabriela Halder! As a member of our Honduras research and clinical team (2011), Gaby has successfully published a manuscript on water sanitation, access and self reported diarrheal illness in rural, mountainous Honduras.

For the full manuscript in PDF, click here.

Gaby's work was presented at the American Public Health Association national conference in 2011 where she was recognized with a research award.

Fantastic work!

Dr. Gonzalo Bearman

Impact of a Water Sanitation & Hygiene Program in Western Kenya

Latrine in La Hicaca, Honduras

This is an interesting study by Greene and colleagues that examined the impact of a school-based improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) program in Western Kenya on fecal contamination of students’ hands with E. Coli. 17 intervention and 17 control schools were assessed (as a sample of a larger cluster randomized trial of 135 schools). Intervention schools had specialized buckets provided for hand washing and drinking water, as well as a supply of hypochlorite solution provided for water decontamination. Teachers were trained on how to maintain the handwashing equipment. Schools with a high ratio of students to latrines underwent the addition of new latrines to meet a pupil to latrine ratio of 30:1 for boys and 25:1 for girls.

These authors found no difference in E. coli hand contamination for the intervention and the control schools, and curiously found an increased risk of hand contamination for girls in schools where new latrines had been constructed (RR: 2.63, 95% CI 1.29-5.34). Although it is not clear why this occurred, the authors postulate that this increase in contamination may have occurred secondary to increased latrine use in the absence of improvements in hand hygiene. The authors note poor student access to soap, a fact that likely critically undermined the overall sanitation program. In a geographically discrete location such as a school, the introduction of latrines in the absence of mechanisms to improve hand hygiene may actually lead to increased fecal contamination of hands, with the potential for spread of diarrheal illness.

Although improving access to latrines is a critical component of improving the overall health of communities, improving latrine access without improving access to soap may actually be harmful. Mechanisms to assure soap access should be built in to hygiene programs.