Evaluation of WASH indicators associated with diarrhoeal disease among under-five children in an urban slum pocket, Mumbai city, India: a community-based repeated cross-sectional study

Abstract

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practices are important factors in preventing diarrhoea. The objectives of this study were to assess the behaviour of the mothers of under-five children with regard to WASH practices, water quality, incidence rate of diarrhoea and the WASH predictors responsible for diarrhoea and water contamination, using multivariate regression analysis. The present study was conducted in households (n=55) having under-five children (n=88) based in an urban slum pocket of Mumbai city, India. Key satisfactory practices included (percent household following them in parenthesis) boiling of water (63.6%) and daily cleaning of storage containers (74.5%). Households followed unsatisfactory practices during water transfer (72.7%), handwashing (58.2%), defaecation location (96.4%) and disposal of children's faeces (98.2%). The incidence rate of diarrhoea among <5-year-old children was 4.7 diarrhoeal episodes/100 child months. 86 and 39.7% of untreated and boiled drinking water samples had coliforms, while 12.5 and 5.1% had E. coli, respectively. Untreated drinking water and water sourced from shared taps were significantly associated with the incidence of diarrhoea (p<0.05), and inconsistent in-house treatment of water was significantly associated with the presence of coliforms in drinking water (p<0.05). The study results suggest that WASH advocacy and an improvement in sanitation-related infrastructure for the slum population can reduce diarrhoeal incidence.

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) practices among residents of different slum settlements in a ward of Kolkata: A mixed-methods study

“…The present study findings simulate the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), according to which, 99% of families had access to improved sources of drinking water. [ 10 ] The source of water in this study was corporation tap water in 99.1% of the households, which also corroborated the findings of Wani et al [ 11 ] among slum dwellers in Mumbai and Shukla et al [ 12 ] in slums of the Anand district, Gujarat. It was greater than the findings by Chu et al in a Tamil Nadu study, where 92.4% of the study population used municipal water supply.…”

“…In the slums of Mumbai, 63.3% of the residents boiled their water before drinking, whereas 20% practiced the use of cloth or other straining material. [ 11 ] In the longitudinal study by Kanungo et al [ 13 ] in Kolkata, about 9.65% in the second round reported using some form of home-based treatment for purifying drinking water, water filters being the commonest (6.81%), followed by boiling (1.66%). According to Agarwal et al [ 15 ] about 45% of the study participants in Jhansi consumed the water directly without any pre-treatment.…”

“…This contrasted with Mumbai slums, wherein nearly three-fourths of the households were dipping glass directly into the storage container, which is unsafe (72.7%). [ 11 ]…”

Water, sanitation, and hygiene access in Senegal and its impact on the occurrence of diarrhea in children under 5 years old

“…Indeed, a study revealed that the level of bacterial contamination of water varied by treatment method, highest samples within unacceptable level being straining through a cloth (89.5%) followed by the use of chlorine (80%), let it stand and settle (71.7%) and the least was boiling (66.2%) (Kakulu 2012). About the latter, a study revealed that 39.7% of water samples infected with coliforms and treated by this technique versus 86% of contaminated and untreated samples, the lack of water treatment being significantly associated with the presence of coliforms and incidence of diarrhea (Wani et al 2022). This work faced some difficulties related to the availability of estimates of access to hygiene for certain years.…”

Determinants of Diarrhea in Toddlers at Post-Declaration Open-Defecation-Free Area

“…When boiled water, it could be recontamination. Especially during storage and transfer, include boil with incorrect temperature/time (Wani, Smeets and Shrivastava, 2022). Based on the Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Number 492/MENKES/PER/ IV/2010 concerning Drinking Water Quality Requirements, namely water that meets physical, microbiological, chemical, and radioactive requirements contained in mandatory and additional parameters (Peraturan Menteri Kesehatan RI, 2010).…”