Preventing Parasitic and Gastrointestinal Infections in Central Java: The ‘Balatrine Intervention

Open defecation increases the risk of helminthiasis and other infectious diseases. In rural Indonesia, we tested a household latrine (the ‘BALatrine’) as a method for controlling soil transmitted helminth (STH) infection. We studied two villages, one of which had household latrines and the other did not. The dependent variable was the presence or absence of worm eggs in stool samples, as confirmed by laboratory analysis. The independent variables were the village of residence, demographic characteristics, and various behaviours associated in the literature with the risk of helminthiasis. The total number of participants was 475, of whom 392 were wormfree. In a multivariate logistic-regression model, the people who were more likely to be worm-free were younger, female, did not spend time in the paddy fields, and lived in the village that had BALatrines. Compared with the people living in the village without BALatrines, those in the village with BALatrines were twice as likely to be worm-free. A longitudinal controlled study of the BALatrine would allow us to confirm the significance of this household latrine in controlling helminthiasis.