Ascaris lumbricoides Infection Following School-Based Deworming in Western Kenya: Assessing the Role of Pupils' School and Home Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Exposure

This paper summarises the findings of a study seeking to characterise how pupils' school and home WASH exposures were associated with Ascaris lumbricoides, a STH infection, after annual school-based deworming and facilitate an understanding of which individual and combinations of WASH technologies and behaviours are most likely to reduce exposure to infective eggs and prevent re-infection post-MDA. It found that few WASH behaviours and technologies were independently associated with Ascaris lumbricoides infection. However, by considering relevant interdependencies between variables, important associations were revealed. For example, the association between handwashing and Ascaris lumbricoides depended largely upon the pupils’ access to an improved water source.