Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41380443›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of hygiene and environmental health2026

Rainfall and temperature influence effectiveness of on-site sanitation intervention against E. coli contamination in Bangladeshi households.

Caitlin G Niven, Mahfuza Islam, Anna Nguyen, Andrew Mertens, Amy J Pickering, Laura H Kwong, Mahfuja Alam, Debashis Sen, Sharmin Islam, Mahbubur Rahman and 8 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of hygiene and environmental health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Associations between floor material andbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Caitlin G NivenDepartment of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.
Mahfuza IslamDivision of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
Anna NguyenDepartment of Epidemiology & Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Andrew MertensDivision of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
Amy J PickeringDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Laura H KwongDivision of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
Mahfuja AlamEnvironmental Health and WASH, Health System and Population Studies Division, Icddr,b, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
Debashis SenEnvironmental Health and WASH, Health System and Population Studies Division, Icddr,b, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
Sharmin IslamEnvironmental Health and WASH, Health System and Population Studies Division, Icddr,b, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
Mahbubur RahmanEnvironmental Health and WASH, Health System and Population Studies Division, Icddr,b, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
Leanne UnicombEnvironmental Health and WASH, Health System and Population Studies Division, Icddr,b, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
Alan E HubbardDivision of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
Stephen P LubyDivision of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Jessica A GrembiDepartment of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16801, PA.
John M ColfordDivision of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
Benjamin F ArnoldFrancis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Jade Benjamin-ChungDepartment of Epidemiology & Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
Ayse ErcumenDepartment of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA. Electronic address: aercume@ncsu.edu.

Funding

Effects of sanitation on pathogen transmission and child health in BangladeshR01HD078912 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI COLFORD, JOHN M · 2014 to 2017
$2.2M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD078912
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Weather can influence the environmental spread and survival of fecal pathogens, potentially affecting the effectiveness of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions. We assessed whether rainfall and temperature modified effects of an on-site sanitation intervention on fecal contamination among households in the WASH Benefits trial in rural Bangladesh. The intervention included double-pit latrines, potties, feces removal tools and behavior change promotion. We longitudinally visited households from intervention and control groups to enumerate E. coli. Samples (n = 23,238) included drinking water from tubewells and storage containers, prepared food, caregiver and child hand rinses, pond water, courtyard soil, and flies. We geospatially matched E. coli measurements to daily weather data and estimated intervention effects with and without stratification by weather. The intervention resulted in greater reduction in contamination following higher rainfall for four pathways (mother/child hands, ponds, flies), and following higher temperatures for five pathways (food, mother/child hands, soil, ponds). Compared to controls, E. coli levels were reduced by approximately 1-log for flies and 0.25-log in ponds after higher rainfall, 0.2-log on child hands, 0.3-0.4 log in soil and ponds after higher temperatures (interaction p-values<0.20), and 0.1-log in stored drinking water under most conditions. Intervention effects were minimal when not stratified by weather, with <0.1-log reductions for stored drinking water and child hands, and no effects on other pathways. Sanitation interventions may deliver greater protection against environmental contamination during wetter, warmer conditions, and assessments that average over time may conceal differential intervention effects. WASH trials should incorporate spatiotemporal weather data into impact evaluations.

Indexed as

Escherichia coliRainSanitationTemperatureWater MicrobiologyBangladeshDrinking WaterFamily CharacteristicsFecesHumansHygieneRural PopulationToilet FacilitiesDrinking WaterE. coliEffect modificationFecal contaminationRainfallRandomized controlled trialSanitationTemperature

Identifiers

PMID41380443
PMCPMC13317920

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.