https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(13)60222-6.pdf

Global burden of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea

We propose a two-class classification model for grouping. Human segmented natural images are used as positive examples. Negative examples of grouping are constructed by randomly matching human segmentations and images. In a preprocessing stage an image is over-segmented into super-pixels. We define a variety of features derived from the classical Gestalt cues, including contour, texture, brightness and good continuation. Information-theoretic analysis is applied to evaluate the power of these grouping cues. We train a linear classifier to combine these features. To demonstrate the power of the classification model, a simple algorithm is used to randomly search for good segmentations. Results are shown on a wide range of images.

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Learning a classification model for segmentation

Many studies have reported the results of interventions to reduce illness through improvements in drinking water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene practices in less developed countries. There has, however, been no formal systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the evidence of the relative effectiveness of these interventions. We developed a comprehensive search strategy designed to identify all peer-reviewed articles, in any language, that presented water, sanitation, or hygiene interventions. We examined only those articles with specific measurement of diarrhoea morbidity as a health outcome in non-outbreak conditions. We screened the titles and, where necessary, the abstracts of 2120 publications. 46 studies were judged to contain relevant evidence and were reviewed in detail. Data were extracted from these studies and pooled by meta-analysis to provide summary estimates of the effectiveness of each type of intervention. All of the interventions studied were found to reduce significantly the risks of diarrhoeal illness. Most of the interventions had a similar degree of impact on diarrhoeal illness, with the relative risk estimates from the overall meta-analyses ranging between 0·63 and 0·75. The results generally agree with those from previous reviews, but water quality interventions (point-of-use water treatment) were found to be more effective than previously thought, and multiple interventions (consisting of combined water, sanitation, and hygiene measures) were not more effective than interventions with a single focus. There is some evidence of publication bias in the findings from the hygiene and water treatment interventions.

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473-3099(04)01253-8.pdf

Water sanitation and hygiene interventions to reduce diarrhoea in less developed countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The global status of schistosomiasis and its control.

We set out to determine the impact of washing hands with soap on the risk of diarrhoeal diseases in the community with a systematic review with random effects meta-analysis Our data sources were studies linking handwashing with diarrhoeal diseases Seven intervention studies, six case-control, two cross-sectional, and two cohort studies were located from electronic databases, hand searching, and the authors' collections The pooled relative risk of diarrhoeal disease associated with not washing hands from the intervention trials was 188 (95% CI 131-268), implying that handwashing could reduce diarrhoea risk by 47% When all studies, when only those of high quality, and when only those studies specifically mentioning soap were pooled, risk reduction ranged from 42-44% The risks of severe intestinal infections and of shigellosis were associated with reductions of 48% and 59%, respectively In the absence of adequate mortality studies, we extrapolate the potential number of diarrhoea deaths that could be averted by handwashing at about a million (11 million, lower estimate 05 million, upper estimate 14 million) Results may be affected by the poor quality of many of the studies and may be inflated by publication bias On current evidence, washing hands with soap can reduce the risk of diarrhoeal diseases by 42-47% and interventions to promote handwashing might save a million lives More and better-designed trials are needed to measure the impact of washing hands on diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections in developing countries

Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea risk in the community: a systematic review

A total of 144 studies were analysed to examine the impact of improved water supply and sanitation facilities on ascariasis, diarrhoea, dracunculiasis, hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, and trachoma. These diseases were selected because they are widespread and illustrate the variety of mechanisms through which improved water and sanitation can protect people. Disease-specific median reduction levels were calculated for all studies, and separately for the more methodologically rigorous ones. For the latter studies, the median reduction in morbidity for diarrhoea, trachoma, and ascariasis induced by water supplies and/or sanitation was 26%, 27%, and 29%, respectively; the median reduction for schistosomiasis and dracunculiasis was higher, at 77% and 78%, respectively. All studies of hookworm infection were flawed apart from one, which reported a 4% reduction in incidence. For hookworm infection, ascariasis, and schistosomiasis, the reduction in disease severity, as measured in egg counts, was greater than that in incidence or prevalence. Child mortality fell by 55%, which suggests that water and sanitation have a substantial impact on child survival. Water for personal and domestic hygiene was important in reducing the rates of ascariasis, diarrhoea, schistosomiasis, and trachoma. Sanitation facilities decreased diarrhoea morbidity and mortality and the severity of hookworm infection. Better water quality reduced the incidence of dracunculiasis, but its role in diarrhoeal disease control was less important than that of sanitation and hygiene.

Effects of improved water supply and sanitation on ascariasis diarrhoea dracunculiasis hookworm infection schistosomiasis and trachoma.

Health benefits from improvements in water supply and sanitation: survey and analysis of the literature on selected diseases.

Reviews/Analyses Effects ofimproved watersupply andsanitation on ascariasis, diarrhoea, dracunculiasis, hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, andtrachoma

L. Roberts

Papers

Effects of improved water supply and sanitation on ascariasis diarrhoea dracunculiasis hookworm infection schistosomiasis and trachoma.

Health benefits from improvements in water supply and sanitation: survey and analysis of the literature on selected diseases.

Reviews/Analyses Effects ofimproved watersupply andsanitation on ascariasis, diarrhoea, dracunculiasis, hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, andtrachoma