ABSTRACT

Lack of access to clean water for drinking, bathing, washing and food preparation underlies much of the childhood mortality, developmental delays and poverty that plague the developing world. It is no surprise that intestinal infections related to contaminated food and water are a leading cause of childhood mortality in these areas and the long term consequences in children who survive are profound (Guerrant et al. 2013). However, even in developed countries that can afford high standards of sanitation, diarrheal infections are extremely common, second only to upper respiratory infections as a cause of illness in the population as a whole (Guerrant et al. 2001). While some of these infections are acquired from direct person-toperson spread, the majority are largely or even exclusively acquired through ingestion of contaminated food or water.