Disease surveillance methods used in the 8-site MAL-ED cohort study

MAL-ED Network Investigators

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

74 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Describing the early life associations between infectious disease episodes and growth, cognitive development, and vaccine response in the first 2 years of life is one of the primary goals of the Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) cohort study. To collect high-resolution data during a critical early period of development, field staff visit each study participant at their house twice weekly from birth to 2 years of age to collect daily reported illness and treatment data from caregivers. Detailed infectious disease histories will not only allow us to relate the overall burden of infectious disease with the primary outcomes of the study, but will also allow us to describe the ages at which infectious diseases have the greatest effect on child health. In addition, twice-weekly visits allow for sample collection when diarrhea episodes are identified. This article describes the methods used to collect illness and treatment history data and discusses the a priori definitions of diarrhea and acute lower respiratory illness episodes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)S220-S224
JournalClinical Infectious Diseases
Volume59
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2014

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Financial support. The Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development Project (MAL-ED) is carried out as a collaborative project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center. M. M. was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center.

Funding Information:
Supplement sponsorship. This article appeared as part of the supplement “The Malnutrition and Enteric Disease Study (MAL-ED): Understanding the Consequences for Child Health and Development,” sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Keywords

  • diarrhea
  • infectious disease
  • MAL-ED
  • respiratory infection
  • surveillance

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