Water Filters and Improved Cookstoves in Western Rwanda
Diarrhoeal DiseaseRespiratory Infection1 moreDelAgua Health Rwanda (Implementation) Ltd. together with Rwanda Ministry of Health (MoH) are delivering an intervention, consisting on the free distribution of one advance water filter and one improved cookstove to all household classified as ubudehe 1 and 2 according to government approved registers (poorest tertile), in Western Province. The aim of this intervention is to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with diarrhoeal diseases and pneumonia in Rwanda. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) will be undertaking an independent evaluation of this large-scale intervention to assess its impact on health. The trial will evaluate whether the provision of improved cookstoves and advance water filters can reduce pneumonia and diarrhoea disease in children under 5 years of age. A cluster randomized controlled trial (CRCT) with two arms of unequal size (3:1 ratio) will be use to answer this question. The 96 sectors in Western Province, Rwanda, will be randomised to either receive the intervention or the control. Each eligible household in intervention sectors will receive one EcoZoom™ Spartan and one Vestergaard Frandsen Lifestraw Family™ 2.1 water filter free of charge. Eligible households in control sectors will continue with their traditional cooking and drinking practices. Health data on children under 5 years of age will be collected from community health worker (CHW) and health facility records all across Western Province to evaluate the health impact of the intervention. The study will encompass 12 months of follow-up. After this time the control sectors will receive the intervention. This independent evaluation will also include a nested village-level study within the larger sector-level study, with the aim to evaluate uptake, consistent use and acceptability of the intervention, as well as to assess the impact on environmental exposures and health outcomes. 174 villages (74 controls and 74 intervention) will be selected for participation. Household surveys will be used to collect data on intervention use and acceptability as well as on self-reported health data. Water samples will be collected and monitoring of exposure to Households Air Pollution (HAP) will be undertaken. Measurements of blood pressure, expirated Carbon monoxide (CO) and pulse CO-oximetry will be undertake in primary cooks and or children under 5 years of age. Additionally, as part of this nested study, two exploratory studies will also be conducted. One will be focused on assessing the potential of biomarkers as indicators of environmental exposures (mainly HAP and water quality) and health status, while the other exploratory sub-study will assess the reactivity of participants to the use of remotely reporting electronic sensors to measure target behaviours.
Vitamin D Supplementation and Acute Respiratory Infection in Older Long-Term Care Residents
Respiratory InfectionThis study will test the role of high dose vitamin D supplementation in prevention of acute respiratory infection in older nursing home residents. The investigators hypothesize that residents on high dose vitamin D supplementation will have a lower incidence of acute respiratory infection that those on standard dose vitamin D supplementation.
Stopping Upper Respiratory Infections and Flu in the Family: The Stuffy Trial
Respiratory Tract InfectionsCommon ColdColds and flu cause much loss of work and school. The purpose of this study is to try to reduce the transmission of colds and flu among household members with one of three interventions: some educational material, educational material and use of alcohol hand sanitizers, and educational material and use of alcohol hand sanitizers as well as face masks when somebody has symptoms of the flu. We will recruit 450 households in Northern Manhattan and each household will be randomly assigned to one of these three groups. We will then follow these households for 15 months to see how often they get cold and flu symptoms. We will also look at antibiotic use practices for symptoms of colds and influenza ; household member knowledge of prevention and treatment strategies for pandemic influenza and viral URIs; and rates of influenza vaccination among household members. When someone in the study has serious flu symptoms such as a high fever and cough or sore throat, we will also obtain a nasal culture (by swabbing the nose) to see if there is flu virus present.
Differentiation of Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Infections Using Automated Lung Sound Analysis...
Acute Respiratory Tract InfectionThis observational study evaluates whether lung sound analysis with LungPass device can be used to differentiate upper and lower respiratory tract infections (URTI and LRTI)
A Phase 3 Study to Determine if RTB101 Prevents Clinically Symptomatic Respiratory Illness in the...
Respiratory Tract InfectionsTo determine if RTB101 as compared to placebo decreases the percentage of subjects with clinically symptomatic respiratory illness (with or without an associated laboratory-confirmed pathogen) through Week 16.
Implementation Assessment and Clinical Utility of the FilmArray® Respiratory Panel (RP) EZ in a...
Respiratory Tract InfectionsBioFire Diagnostics, LLC (BioFire; a bioMerieux company), has developed a multiplexed molecular-based in vitro diagnostic platform for infectious disease testing known as the FilmArray. The FilmArray Respiratory Panel (RP) EZ is a test designed for use with the FilmArray 2.0 EZ Configuration instrument that identifies common bacterial and viral microorganisms associated with respiratory tract infections from a nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) specimen collected in viral transport media (VTM). The RP EZ was granted CLIA-waived classification by the FDA in October 2016 and is the first highly-multiplexed molecular test to receive this designation. The purpose of this study is to measure patient outcomes following implementation of the RP EZ test and to also gather data about physician office workflow and user interactions with the device. These data will be used to understand how the adoption of such tests may influence patient care in the CLIA-waived setting.
Reducing the Acute Care Burden of Childhood Asthma on Health Services in British Columbia
Upper Respiratory Tract InfectionAsthmaThe purpose of this study is to investigate the benefits of giving filled prescription of a medication to be used upon early onset of symptoms of URTI induced asthma. The hope is to reduce the need to present to Health Care centres for treatment.
Randomized Controlled Trial of Vitamin D3 Supplementation for Viral Upper Respiratory Tract Infections...
Viral Upper Respiratory Tract InfectionBackground: Vitamin D has been shown to be an important immune system regulator. Vitamin D insufficiency during the winter may cause increased susceptibility to infections, particularly viral upper respiratory tract infections (URIs). Objective: To determine whether vitamin D supplementation during the winter season prevents or decreases URI symptoms in adults. Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted in 162 adults. Participants were randomized to receive vitamin D3 50 mcg (2000 IU) daily or matching placebo for 12 weeks from December 2006 to March 2007. A biweekly questionnaire was used to record the incidence and severity of URI symptoms
Chlorhexidine & Pneumonia in Nursing Home Residents
PneumoniaRespiratory InfectionThe purpose of this study is determine if topical oral application of a chlorhexidine antimicrobial spray will significantly reduce pneumonia and respiratory infections, and improve oral health compared to a placebo solution in nursing home residents.
A Randomized Controlled Trial of a School Disinfection and Hand Hygiene Program
Respiratory InfectionsGastrointestinal DiseasesThe objective of the trial is to assess the impact of a disinfection and hand hygiene program on absenteeism in elementary school classrooms. Students in intervention classrooms will use alcohol-based hand sanitizers at school, and their classrooms will be disinfected using quaternary ammonium wipes. We hypothesize that the use of disinfectants and hand hygiene products in elementary school classrooms will reduce absenteeism.