Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Nov 1;59 Suppl 4(Suppl 4):S220-4.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciu435.

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

Stephanie A Richard  1 , Leah J Barrett  2 , Richard L Guerrant  2 , William Checkley  3 , Mark A Miller  1 ; MAL-ED Network Investigators
Collaborators, Affiliations

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

Stephanie A Richard et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

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.

Keywords: MAL-ED; diarrhea; infectious disease; respiratory infection; surveillance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. The MAL-ED Network Investigators. The MAL-ED study: a multinational and multidisciplinary approach to understand the relationship between enteric pathogens, malnutrition, gut physiology, physical growth, cognitive development, and immune responses in infants and children up to 2 years of age in resource-poor environments. Clin Infect Dis. 2014;59(suppl 4):S193–206. - PubMed
    1. Ahmed T, Mahfuz M, Islam M, et al. The MAL-ED cohort study in Mirpur, Bangladesh. Clin Infect Dis. 2014;59(suppl 4):S280–6. - PubMed
    1. Bessong PO, Nyathi E, Mahopo C, et al. Development of the Dzimauli community in Vhembe district, Limpopo province of South Africa for the MAL-ED cohort study. Clin Infect Dis. 2014;59(suppl 4):S317–24. - PubMed
    1. John SM, Thomas RJ, Kaki S, et al. Establishment of the MAL-ED birth cohort study site in Vellore, southern India. Clin Infect Dis. 2014;59(suppl 4):S295–9. - PubMed
    1. Lima AA, Oriá RB, Soares AM, et al. Geography, population, demography, socioeconomic, anthropometry and environmental status the MAL-ED cohort and case-control study sites in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Clin Infect Dis. 2014;59(suppl 4):S287–94. - PubMed