Introductory Notes
The Soil Transmitted Helminths Project
Soil transmitted helminths (STH), i.e., geohelminths, are parasitic intestinal worms that cause intestinal nematode infections (INI). According to the Lancet’s 2019 global burden of disease study INI - comprising ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm disease - are the most prevalent of the neglected tropical diseases. Additionally, INI are the second most burdensome neglected tropical diseases, after dengue.
A World Health Organization’s hypothesis of geohelminths infections prevalence (ref. Professor Antonio Montresor) is that one or more WaSH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) variables impact prevalence rates. This project investigates whether one or more WaSH variables are geohelminths infections prevalence risk factors. The investigation is via Binomial geostatistical logistic models.
Project Aim
Determine whether one or more WaSH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) variables are geohelminths infections prevalence risk factors.
Project Objectives
Hence, the project's objectives are to
- Determine which WaSH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) variables have a statistically significant impact on geohelminths infections prevalence.
- Determine, estimate, the degree to which impacting WaSH variables affect geohelminths infections prevalence.
via geostatistical models.
Project Data
The project's underlying data is the World Health Organization's ESPEN (Expanded Special Project for the Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases) geohelminths infections survey experiments data.
These Pages
These pages complement the project's (a) code repositories, and (b) its accompanying thesis. The Content, Repositories page outlines the purpose of each repository.