Ask when--not just whether--it's a risk: How regional context influences local causes of diarrheal disease.

ABSTRACT: Contemporary epidemiology is enriched when it incorporates ecological concepts about systems and dependencies. With regard to diarrheal disease, the causes of which are many and interacting, the dynamics of within- and between-community disease transmission have distinct components but are also linked in important ways. However, few investigators have studied how regional-scale disease dynamics affect local patterns of diarrheal disease transmission. Characterizing this dependence is important for identifying local- and regional-level transmission pathways. We used data from active surveillance of diarrheal disease prevalence gathered from February 2004 through July 2007 in 21 neighboring Ecuadorian villages to estimate how disease prevalence in spatially and temporally proximate villages

SUBMITTER: Goldstick JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4010187 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature