{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,12]],"date-time":"2025-11-12T20:57:34Z","timestamp":1762981054292,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]],"date-time":"2020-12-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1607644800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Pre-school aged children (PSAC) are highly affected by soil-transmitted helminths (STH), particularly in areas where water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are inadequate. Context-specific evidence on determinants of STH infections in PSAC has not been well established in the study area. This study, therefore, aimed to fill these gaps in Gamo Gofa zone, Southern Ethiopia.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A community-based unmatched case-control study, nested in a cross-sectional survey, was conducted in January 2019. Cases and controls were identified based on any STH infection status using the Kato-Katz technique in stool sample examination. Data on social, demographic, economic, behavioral, and WASH related variables were collected from primary caregivers of children using pre-tested questionnaire. Determinants of STH infections were identified using multivariable logistic regression model using SPSS version 25.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A total of 1206 PSAC (402 cases and 804 controls) participated in this study. Our study showed that the odds of STH infection were lowest among PSAC living in urban areas (AOR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.39\u20130.79), among those from households with safe water source (AOR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.47\u20130.0.93), and in those PSAC from households with shorter distance from water source (&lt;30 minutes) (AOR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.39\u20130.67). On the other hand, the odds of STH infection were highest among PSAC from households that had no functional hand washing facility (AOR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.04\u20131.77), in those PSAC from households that had unclean latrine (AOR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.19\u20132.78), and among those PSAC under caregivers who had lower score (\u22645) on knowledge related to STH transmission (AOR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.13\u20133.01).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Given efforts required eliminating STH by 2030; the existing preventive chemotherapy intervention should be substantially strengthened with WASH and behavioral interventions. Thus, an urgent call for action is required to integrate context-specific interventions, particularly in rural areas.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0243836","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]],"date-time":"2020-12-11T18:45:24Z","timestamp":1607712324000},"page":"e0243836","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Determinants of soil-transmitted helminth infections among pre-school-aged children in Gamo Gofa zone, Southern Ethiopia: A case-control study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5718-0001","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Mekuria Asnakew","family":"Asfaw","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Teklu","family":"Wegayehu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5937-8452","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tigist","family":"Gezmu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alemayehu","family":"Bekele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zeleke","family":"Hailemariam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9884-0344","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Teshome","family":"Gebre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0243836.ref001","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Eliminating Soil-Transmitted Helminthiases as a Public Health Problem in Children. Progress Report 2001\u20132010 and Strategic Plan 2011\u20132020. Geneva: WHO. 2012. https:\/\/apps.who.int\/iris\/handle\/10665\/44804."},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0243836.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e126","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0000126","article-title":"Controlling soil-transmitted helminthiasis in pre-school-age children through preventive chemotherapy","volume":"2","author":"M Albonico","year":"2008","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis"},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref003","first-page":"145","article-title":"Schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth infections\u2013preliminary estimates of the number of children treated with albendazole or mebendazole","volume":"16","author":"WHO","year":"2006","journal-title":"Wkly Epidemiol Rec"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0243836.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e45939","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0045939","article-title":"Soil-transmitted helminth infections and correlated risk factors in preschool and school-aged children in rural southwest China","volume":"7","author":"X Wang","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0243836.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"470","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1998.58.470","article-title":"Correlations between intestinal parasitosis, physical growth, and psychomotor development among infants and children from rural Nicaragua","volume":"58","author":"RA Oberhelman","year":"1998","journal-title":"The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0243836.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1311","DOI":"10.1172\/JCI34261","article-title":"Helminth infections: the great neglected tropical diseases","volume":"118","author":"PJ Hotez","year":"2008","journal-title":"The Journal of clinical investigation"},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref007","unstructured":"Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ministry of Health. Second Edition of Ethiopia National Master Plan for Neglected Tropical Diseases. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 2016. https:\/\/www.afro.who.int\/publications\/second-edition-national-neglected-tropical-diseases-master-plan-ethiopia-2016."},{"issue":"9521","key":"pone.0243836.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1521","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(06)68653-4","article-title":"Soil-transmitted helminth infections: ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm","volume":"367","author":"J Bethony","year":"2006","journal-title":"The lancet"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0243836.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1137","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpara.2010.04.004","article-title":"Estimating the global distribution and disease burden of intestinal nematode infections: adding up the numbers\u2013a review","volume":"40","author":"S Brooker","year":"2010","journal-title":"International journal for parasitology"},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/S0065-308X(10)72001-7","article-title":"Important helminth infections in Southeast Asia: diversity, potential for control and prospects for elimination","volume":"72","author":"Academic Press","year":"2010","journal-title":"Advances in parasitology"},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref011","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Guideline: preventive chemotherapy to control soil-transmitted helminth infections in at-risk population groups. World Health Organization; 2017."},{"issue":"41","key":"pone.0243836.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16038","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0700900104","article-title":"Bridges to sustainable tropical health","volume":"104","author":"BH Singer","year":"2007","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0243836.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1000367","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1000367","article-title":"Hygiene, sanitation, and water: forgotten foundations of health","volume":"7","author":"J Bartram","year":"2010","journal-title":"PLoS Med"},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref014","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Water sanitation & hygiene for accelerating and sustaining progress on neglected tropical diseases: a global strategy 2015\u20132020. World Health Organization; 2015."},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0243836.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0150744","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0150744","article-title":"A cross-sectional study of water, sanitation, and hygiene-related risk factors for soil-transmitted helminth infection in urban school-and preschool-aged children in Kibera, Nairobi","volume":"11","author":"CM Worrell","year":"2016","journal-title":"PloS one"},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref016","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Ending the neglect to attain the sustainable development goals: A road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021\u20132030. World Health Organization; 2020. https:\/\/www.who.int\/neglected_diseases\/Ending-the-neglect-to-attain-the-SDGs--NTD-Roadmap.pdf?ua=1."},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref017","unstructured":"Central statistical agency (2013) Population Projection for Ethiopia 2007\u20132037. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia."},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref018","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Preventive chemotherapy in human helminthiasis. Coordinated use of anthelminthic drugs in control interventions: a manual for health professionals and programme managers. World Health Organization; 2006."},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0243836.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"422","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-016-2864-9","article-title":"Schistosoma mansoni and soil-transmitted helminths among preschool-aged children in Chuahit, Dembia district, Northwest Ethiopia: prevalence, intensity of infection and associated risk factors","volume":"16","author":"A Alemu","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMC public health"},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Asfaw MA, GT, Wegayehu T, Bekele A, Hailemariam Z, Masresha N, et al. Prevalence, intensity and control strategies of soil-transmitted helminth infections among pre-school age children after 10 years of preventive chemotherapy in Gamo Gofa zone, Southern Ethiopia: A call for action. medRxiv 2020. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1101\/2020.05.14.20102277.","DOI":"10.1101\/2020.05.14.20102277"},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref021","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Kato-Katz technique: Bench Aids for the Diagnosis of Intestinal Paraistes. 1994."},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0243836.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2439","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0002439","article-title":"Integration of water, sanitation, and hygiene for the prevention and control of neglected tropical diseases: a rationale for inter-sectoral collaboration","volume":"7","author":"MC Freeman","year":"2013","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0243836.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1001620","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1001620","article-title":"Water, sanitation, hygiene, and soil-transmitted helminth infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"11","author":"EC Strunz","year":"2014","journal-title":"PLoS Med"},{"key":"pone.0243836.ref024","volume-title":"Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries","author":"PJ Hotez","year":"2006","edition":"2"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0243836.ref025","first-page":"78","article-title":"Patterns and risk factors for helminthiasis in rural children aged under 2 in Bangladesh","volume":"5","author":"E Roy","year":"2011","journal-title":"South African Journal of Child Health"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0243836.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1186\/s40249-019-0561-5","article-title":"Prevalence and risk factors of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases among preschool aged children (1\u20135 years) in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A cross-sectional study","volume":"8","author":"H Sacolo-Gwebu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Infectious diseases of poverty"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0243836.ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0004111","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0004111","article-title":"Effect of poor access to water and sanitation as risk factors for soil-transmitted helminth infection: selectiveness by the infective route","volume":"9","author":"A Echaz\u00fa","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0243836.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1001162","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1001162","article-title":"Effect of sanitation on soil-transmitted helminth infection: systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"9","author":"K Ziegelbauer","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS Med"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0243836.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"408","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-018-3289-0","article-title":"Prevalence, intensity and factors associated with soil-transmitted helminths infections among preschool-age children in Hoima district, rural western Uganda","volume":"18","author":"S Ojja","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC infectious diseases"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0243836.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4314\/ejhd.v24i3.68383","article-title":"Intestinal parasitic infections among under-five children and maternal awareness about the infections in Shesha Kekele, Wondo Genet, Southern Ethiopia","volume":"24","author":"LA Nyantekyi","year":"2010","journal-title":"Ethiopian Journal of Health Development"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0243836.ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e45939","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0045939","article-title":"Soil-transmitted helminth infections and correlated risk factors in preschool and school-aged children in rural southwest China","volume":"7","author":"X Wang","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0243836.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0007201","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0007201","article-title":"Challenges and opportunities for control and elimination of soil-transmitted helminth infection beyond 2020","volume":"13","author":"MC Freeman","year":"2019","journal-title":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0243836","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]],"date-time":"2020-12-11T18:45:53Z","timestamp":1607712353000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0243836"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Kebede","family":"Deribe","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]]},"references-count":32,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0243836","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1932-6203"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]]}}}